Furious at DS for spending $18 for lunch at field trip today

Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:He's 10, almost 11, and in 5th grade. Yes we discussed what to buy and how much it'd cost, and how the $20 was for lunch and souvenir.

Instead he bought junk - burger and hot dog and soda. Another I'm still mad...


Wow a burger and a hot dog? Someone string him up! You'd think he were growing or something!

Food courts are expensive. Settle!
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:Wow. I spent $20.31 on lunch today at the Ferry Building in SF.

If he ate all the food he bought, it wasn't wasteful. And if you gave him a $20 and didn't say "I expect $10 back" or whatever, then you have no one to blame but yourself.

Maybe he bought a friend lunch because the friend didn't have any. Whatever the case, you look like the asshole here.


SF food court >>>>>>>> DC food court
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:

Instead he bought junk - burger and hot dog and soda. Another I'm still mad...


On Sunday, I had a burger and a hot dog and a soda for dinner. I am a 34M. Forgive me?
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:He's 10, almost 11, and in 5th grade. Yes we discussed what to buy and how much it'd cost, and how the $20 was for lunch and souvenir.

Instead he bought junk - burger and hot dog and soda. Another I'm still mad...


Wow a burger and a hot dog? Someone string him up! You'd think he were growing or something!

Food courts are expensive. Settle!


+1 Those food courts are so expensive. And depending on where you end up, some of the food is exotic and as an adult who eats at least Thai, Indian, Mexican, Chinese and salad (my family eats none of that), it's really hard to figure out what you'd like to eat at some of those places. And some of the meals can be almost $30. I'm specifically thinking about the Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian. You're lucky he didn't end up at the Air and Space Museum, because all they have and allow you to eat there is McDonald's, which would have been much cheaper.

Sometimes you also have to understand how to advocate for yourself and your food standards, which is so annoying when certain people do it, and also very intimidating for kids when trying to speak to adults over high glass shelving in a busy, loud environment when everyone knows they just want you to pick the fries and the burger that are set out there for you. Oh, and a bottle of water is very expensive in those places. We're talking approx. $3-4. He might not understand he ask to ask for a cup of water and under no circumstances (unless you're desperate, which we are more than we want to be), don't buy the bottled water, because it's a scam.

Also, what the heck did you think he was going to buy with the $5-7 that would have been left over if he downsized by a hotdog? A couple of stones? Maybe a magnet?

You should have sent your kid with $40, that's for sure. I understand it's a lot of money. Next time, pack his lunch if money is an issue for you. We'd do it on some days. Other people do it.
Anonymous
I'm with the majority here. This is not something to get furious over. I have 8 year old twin boys. Driving back from a movie party with a couple of their friends recently, one of the friends dared one of my sons to stick his finger down his throat. He did and of course threw up. After pulling over to clean up and lecture, as we pull away from the curb my older son starts experimenting with putting HIS finger down his throat...THAT rose to furious worthy in my book!!!!
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:i might've overreacted a bit but i ain't gonna apologize to nobody. we worked so hard on over-spending and over-eating and just as i thought we've made some progress and actually looking forward to him following through them all, he screwed up and disappointed me big time.

yes i work downtown near penn quarters. and yes i offered to pack lunch but he chose to buy. and yes i'm local and school ends today. and yes we go out and buy lunch/dinner together at least a couple times a week. and no this is not at Smithsonian's rip off cafeteria but some lousy food court. and no i don't have 'issues' or need counseling.


Penn Quarters? What?

There are no food courts in that area that are not in museums (near that area).
Anonymous
What is the BFD? You gave him $20, he spent it. If you didn't want him to spend that much, don't give him that much or insist he take a brown-bag lunch. Was he whining that he didn't have enough for a souvenir too? If not, there's no problem.

$20 for a crappy food court lunch seems like a lot, but he had the money to spend, so he spent it.

Maybe your steamed because you haven't truly taught your kids to budget & spend the money how YOU WANT them to spend it?

Who cares. The end result was the same. You gave him $20 to spend and he spent it. You didn't lose any extra money. I don't understand your upset. Next time just pack him a lunch. Whatever you pack will probably be healthier too.

Or you know, unclench.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:i might've overreacted a bit but i ain't gonna apologize to nobody. we worked so hard on over-spending and over-eating and just as i thought we've made some progress and actually looking forward to him following through them all, he screwed up and disappointed me big time.

yes i work downtown near penn quarters. and yes i offered to pack lunch but he chose to buy. and yes i'm local and school ends today. and yes we go out and buy lunch/dinner together at least a couple times a week. and no this is not at Smithsonian's rip off cafeteria but some lousy food court. and no i don't have 'issues' or need counseling.


Penn Quarters? What?

There are no food courts in that area that are not in museums (near that area).


How does a 10 year old have an over-spending problem? Where is he getting the money to overspend other than from you (or your partner)? Sure, maybe he has an overeating problem, but that's a different thread and you seemed more peeved about the $ then the food. I can see how you'd be upset about the overeating (either a hotdog or a burger is fine for a 10 year, but he doesn't need both) but the upset about the cash doesn't make a lot of sense to me since he was empowered by you to spend it all anyway.

Maybe keep working on the over-eating stuff, but don't get hung up on the $20 part, because that's the part of your argument that doesn't make sense, and won't make sense to your DS. His perspective will probably be like everyone else on this thread - you gave me $20, I spent it. So what? So if I were you, I'd try and reinforce the idea that it may not be a good idea/healthy to eat both a hot dog and burger for lunch.

Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:Man hope he at least got a joint for that


OP needs that joint more than her son
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:Wow, you are a terrible mother. Imagine, he could have come home, told you all about what he did and saw, you could have asked questions, and really engaged and listened to him and had a real conversation. You could have smiled, given him a little squeeze, told him you are glad he had a fun day. When he told you about lunch, you could have rolled your eyes, told him he shouldn't have borrowed money for a souvenir if he spent all his money on lunch, and told him to plan a little better next time.

Instead you made your kid feel like crap and sucked the joy out of his day. He is about to go to middle school. I can just about guarantee that he will start to pull away from you and stop telling you things because he won't want to share anything with you because you will overreact to any minor infraction. Next time he will know to just lie.


This. I'm sad for him.
Anonymous
A 10 yo going through a puberty growth spurt could easily eat a hotdog and a burger. Easily.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:A 10 yo going through a puberty growth spurt could easily eat a hotdog and a burger. Easily.


+1

My 8-year old son, who is slim and has no problems with self-regulating with food, could easily eat a hotdog and hamburger (but that could be b/c he would skip the fries).
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:I'm with the majority here. This is not something to get furious over. I have 8 year old twin boys. Driving back from a movie party with a couple of their friends recently, one of the friends dared one of my sons to stick his finger down his throat. He did and of course threw up. After pulling over to clean up and lecture, as we pull away from the curb my older son starts experimenting with putting HIS finger down his throat...THAT rose to furious worthy in my book!!!!


Ha! Twin mom of 6 y/o boys. I see my future....
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:

Instead he bought junk - burger and hot dog and soda. Another I'm still mad...


On Sunday, I had a burger and a hot dog and a soda for dinner. I am a 34M. Forgive me?


Bra size?
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:A 10 yo going through a puberty growth spurt could easily eat a hotdog and a burger. Easily.


+1

My 8-year old son, who is slim and has no problems with self-regulating with food, could easily eat a hotdog and hamburger (but that could be b/c he would skip the fries).


My 10 yo daughter could easily eat that as well. Get over it.
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