We used to beg our parents to eat out, my kids beg me to cook

[Anonymous]

When I was a kid there was very little eating out. My dad thought it was a waste. Maybe sometimes we would after church and it made us so happy.

Now I hate everything about cooking including shopping, prepping, cooking and cleaning so we get a ton of takeout or I just do easy things. I am divorced with 3 kids so that is my lame excuse. My kids get so happy when I tell them I am going to make one of my real meals.

How the turn tables.

[Anonymous]

We cook all the time, so the kids get excited when we eat out.

[Anonymous]

Yup. The good news is you must be a good cook!

[Anonymous]

Same here. We rarely went out to eat.

Now my kids are like yours. They are so excited when I cook. My excuse is I am always driving the kids somewhere and then it’s late and I’m tired after working all day.

Your post made me feel guilty. I relate so much.

[Anonymous]

your parents were one extreme, you are another extreme

[Anonymous]

Feed the children real food, they need nutrients.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Feed the children real food, they need nutrients.

[Anonymous]

My kids love it when I cook too. We do homemade meals for 5 out 7 days of the week and then we eat at a restaurant or a friends’ place once a week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Feed the children real food, they need nutrients.

+1

[Anonymous]

You're making it too difficult on yourself to cook at home. No wonder you hate cooking. You're doing it the hard way.

This forum has a ton of threads with quick, easy, little prep work - type meals (that kids will eat to boot).
Just do a quick search or start a new thread with some specifics and we can help.

Plus, the money you spend on eating out can go towards buying the things like buying the pre-chopped veggies, pre-skiced fruits, salad kits, etc Think of it that way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:your parents were one extreme, you are another extreme

It’s time vs. money trade-offs influenced by household size and maybe gender dynamics. Nobody has to be extreme — just rational and operating with different constraints. Nor do I think either outcome is extreme. I’ve seen plenty of each.

[Anonymous]

Pre-covid we had gotten into the “easy button” of restaurants, carry out and so forth. The lockdown period more or less compelled us to dust off the kitchen and work on our skills. We expanded the cuisines we know and at this point pretty much all restaurant food is a poor comparison to what we make at home, even ethnic food that is not part of our cultural background.