In-laws and their kids eat all our food

[Anonymous]

OP you're not serving enough food. Put some more carbs out on the table and stop being so cheap.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here! I am enjoying this, even for those who are slamming me. Believe me, we have more than enough food: six racks of ribs, 6 pounds of 80/20 burger meat, packs of Nathan's hot dogs, fruit salad ( well we will have it) , potato salad, beer, wine, soda, juice, Fried chicken, watermelon, the works. I am telling you though, these kids are bottomless pits and what generally happens is that they start eating like cups of applesauce or yogurts, or fruits, chips, etc that we don't even put out and are meant for school lunches. We also have one kid who is an athlete in training and likes to have certain things around- rice cakes, quinoa in cups, peanut butter, chocolate milk etc, and all of that gets annihilated too. I just think it is kind of rude to watch your kids sack someone else's pantry family or not .

How many people and how many hours?

Dont allow access to the pantry.

8-10. I forgot to mention that MIL likes to wait until the last second to say she is coming. Not sure why, but in her mind there is this big dramatic buildup and then a massive flood of relief engulfs the family as she announces that she will be coming.

Well of course you forgot to slam your MIL. Good grief.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here! I am enjoying this, even for those who are slamming me. Believe me, we have more than enough food: six racks of ribs, 6 pounds of 80/20 burger meat, packs of Nathan's hot dogs, fruit salad ( well we will have it) , potato salad, beer, wine, soda, juice, Fried chicken, watermelon, the works. I am telling you though, these kids are bottomless pits and what generally happens is that they start eating like cups of applesauce or yogurts, or fruits, chips, etc that we don't even put out and are meant for school lunches. We also have one kid who is an athlete in training and likes to have certain things around- rice cakes, quinoa in cups, peanut butter, chocolate milk etc, and all of that gets annihilated too. I just think it is kind of rude to watch your kids sack someone else's pantry family or not .

How many people and how many hours?

Dont allow access to the pantry.

8-10. I forgot to mention that MIL likes to wait until the last second to say she is coming. Not sure why, but in her mind there is this big dramatic buildup and then a massive flood of relief engulfs the family as she announces that she will be coming.

Well of course you forgot to slam your MIL. Good grief.

You're right. But I DID remember eventually Karen

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here! I am enjoying this, even for those who are slamming me. Believe me, we have more than enough food: six racks of ribs, 6 pounds of 80/20 burger meat, packs of Nathan's hot dogs, fruit salad ( well we will have it) , potato salad, beer, wine, soda, juice, Fried chicken, watermelon, the works. I am telling you though, these kids are bottomless pits and what generally happens is that they start eating like cups of applesauce or yogurts, or fruits, chips, etc that we don't even put out and are meant for school lunches. We also have one kid who is an athlete in training and likes to have certain things around- rice cakes, quinoa in cups, peanut butter, chocolate milk etc, and all of that gets annihilated too. I just think it is kind of rude to watch your kids sack someone else's pantry family or not .

You have to set boundaries. "Katy and Mike, the pantry is off limits during the cookout; please only eat the foods we have put out. If you need something else please ask me." But really, you should have done this from day one, now it will come off as kind of petty, I'm sure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would have a problem with any guests helping themselves to food that was not out/offered. I do think you have to realize the 16 year old boys eat a ton...so like 3 hamburgers is not unexpected. Be sure you are serving enough at the meal.

You'd have a problem with your nieces and nephews getting enough to eat at your home? Your wierd!!! I hope my family is comfortable enough at my house to handle their needs without relying on me if I've missed something - like having enough food.

I would have a problem with nieces and nephews being gluttonous. Gross and rude.

It's not your job as a host to decide how hungry your guests should be. It's your job to feed them until they are full. Trying to decide how much someone else should want to eat is the weird choice here.

[Anonymous]

Be the ingredient house not the snack house.

[Anonymous]

You need to COMMUNICATE.

You certainly have time to have a conversation before they get to your house. There are grocery stores en route to your home.

And annoying you have to tell them to bring their own food. I always bring food when staying with family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You need to COMMUNICATE.

You certainly have time to have a conversation before they get to your house. There are grocery stores en route to your home.

And annoying you have to tell them to bring their own food. I always bring food when staying with family.

It sounds like this is just a cookout, not an overnighter.

[Anonymous]

How old are your kids op? Also, do you want to be known as the aunt who forbid kids to go in the pantry? It is one day. Either deal with it at this point after so many years, or don't host. Too late to say something now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You need to COMMUNICATE.

You certainly have time to have a conversation before they get to your house. There are grocery stores en route to your home.

And annoying you have to tell them to bring their own food. I always bring food when staying with family.

It sounds like this is just a cookout, not an overnighter.

And if there was plenty of food outside they wouldn't have to go inside to find the good stuff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would have a problem with any guests helping themselves to food that was not out/offered. I do think you have to realize the 16 year old boys eat a ton...so like 3 hamburgers is not unexpected. Be sure you are serving enough at the meal.

Eating 3 hamburgers is overeating.

Not for a teen boy athlete.

Then he should eat a snack before he comes over and not act like a starved Neanderthal. Rude.

DP

OMG! No!

As a host you need to prepare for this. Plus, my teen daughter (15) is 5’7” and 95lbs. She is very athletic and can easily eat 3 hamburgers! Yesterday we had a BBQ and she ate 2 steaks and some chicken. I was the same at that age. The host needs to prepare for this and if she cannot afford it, then she needs to tell her brother “please bring a side and dessert” or whatever.

Yikes! You need a nutritionist.

She’s an elite athlete we have one. . . and a trainer.. . .and a coach. She’s heathy strong and eats a ton.

Sorry you cannot imagine that girls like this exist. They do!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would have a problem with any guests helping themselves to food that was not out/offered. I do think you have to realize the 16 year old boys eat a ton...so like 3 hamburgers is not unexpected. Be sure you are serving enough at the meal.

You'd have a problem with your nieces and nephews getting enough to eat at your home? Your wierd!!! I hope my family is comfortable enough at my house to handle their needs without relying on me if I've missed something - like having enough food.

I would have a problem with nieces and nephews being gluttonous. Gross and rude.

It's not your job as a host to decide how hungry your guests should be. It's your job to feed them until they are full. Trying to decide how much someone else should want to eat is the weird choice here.

So if you host a dinner and you provide a normal meal plus dessert and appetizers, if a guest is still hungry you are ok with them wandering into your kitchen and helping themself?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here! I am enjoying this, even for those who are slamming me. Believe me, we have more than enough food: six racks of ribs, 6 pounds of 80/20 burger meat, packs of Nathan's hot dogs, fruit salad ( well we will have it) , potato salad, beer, wine, soda, juice, Fried chicken, watermelon, the works. I am telling you though, these kids are bottomless pits and what generally happens is that they start eating like cups of applesauce or yogurts, or fruits, chips, etc that we don't even put out and are meant for school lunches. We also have one kid who is an athlete in training and likes to have certain things around- rice cakes, quinoa in cups, peanut butter, chocolate milk etc, and all of that gets annihilated too. I just think it is kind of rude to watch your kids sack someone else's pantry family or not .

How many people and how many hours?

Dont allow access to the pantry.

8-10. I forgot to mention that MIL likes to wait until the last second to say she is coming. Not sure why, but in her mind there is this big dramatic buildup and then a massive flood of relief engulfs the family as she announces that she will be coming.

Well of course you forgot to slam your MIL. Good grief.

You're right. But I DID remember eventually Karen

Good on you, cheapskate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Be the ingredient house not the snack house.

Dumbest post in this thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don’t go on a Costco run before they visit. Take non-perishables and hide them if needed.

Serve an appropriate amount of food with sides and fruit and veggies - assume a 16yr old boy is like 2x of an adult male’s portions.

If kids start rooting around in your cupboards and pantry for snacks just say “we didn’t get a chance to stock up because we were preparing for your visit.” Also teach them not to open any unopened containers. Half-filled box of Cheezitz? Fine. Unopened box of cereal in the pantry - off limits.

Wow you have a lot of rules for your family!

I like that my family doesn’t expect me to wait on them and will just help themselves. True guests are different, but this is her brother and his family. When I’m a guest at my brothers house I go in his pantry, as do my children. Of course my kids are usually accompanied by this kids looking for snacks. Same applies to my house when they’re all over here. I don’t want to have to make them coffee or whatever, they can just get their own nespresso capsule or glass of wine or whatever. The kids know anything in the bins within reach in the pantry is fair game - which is basically anything they could want because the higher shelves are flour, pasta, cans, etc.

“Anything in the bins” - that is exactly what I am talking about. We have a snack cupboard I keep stocked with pretzels, crackers, chips, granola bars, etc. However I also have a pantry. If there is a Costco size sealed box of snack size chips and a shrinkwrapped flat of Gatorade I am planning to bring to a baseball game on Tuesday evening, I expect that it will be there when I go to load my car. If I have a block of cheese, new in the wrapper, that I purchased to make a recipe on Wednesday for dinner, I should not have to inventory my fridge after guests leave to determine if they ate my ingredients.
My kids and their friends help themselves to food at my home, but they also have enough sense to ask before they dig into something that might be part of a snack-sign up or recipe.

Yeah, I can see that! Obviously there’s a bit of confusion. Family knows the rules at eachother’s homes. I also feel free to correct my nieces and nephews behavior if it’s out of line, which rarely is, but very occasionally - like when the little one pulls the dog’s tail or wanders into the living room on the white sofa with a red drink - yep, I definitely say something.