Teen obsessed with ordering food/eating out

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why is a 15 yr old who doesn't drive obsessed with drive thrus? She's getting that experience somewhere to keep asking for it. Why would she demand Starbucks for breakfast if there is no history of it? Something is missing here.

She’s 15 - how would she not know about drive-thrus? Do you have kids that are not infants?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is a 15 yr old who doesn't drive obsessed with drive thrus? She's getting that experience somewhere to keep asking for it. Why would she demand Starbucks for breakfast if there is no history of it? Something is missing here.

She’s 15 - how would she not know about drive-thrus? Do you have kids that are not infants?

No my kids aren't that young, my oldest is a teen. Be we almost never go thru a drive thru so they never ask as we're driving by them. A family with a habit of stopping often would make more sense for the kid begging for it. They don't ask for things they aren't used to in the first place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you guys eat meals together as a family? Is there cooked food available to her for lunch and such? What is in the house as an alternative?

Teens can cook. They don’t need “cooked food” available. They need ingredients.

So everyone just makes their own dinner then? No wonder she orders food.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is a 15 yr old who doesn't drive obsessed with drive thrus? She's getting that experience somewhere to keep asking for it. Why would she demand Starbucks for breakfast if there is no history of it? Something is missing here.

She’s 15 - how would she not know about drive-thrus? Do you have kids that are not infants?

No my kids aren't that young, my oldest is a teen. Be we almost never go thru a drive thru so they never ask as we're driving by them. A family with a habit of stopping often would make more sense for the kid begging for it. They don't ask for things they aren't used to in the first place.

Of course they do! Teens are extremely easily influenced. My neighbors growing up got take out all the time and were so jealous of them! My mother would make us a nice home made meal and we would wanting the neighbors KFC.

Hopefully once she starts earning her own money she is more aware - once I started working I was always calculating how many hours of work it would take to pay for something, and it really made aware of how much things cost.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is a 15 yr old who doesn't drive obsessed with drive thrus? She's getting that experience somewhere to keep asking for it. Why would she demand Starbucks for breakfast if there is no history of it? Something is missing here.

She’s 15 - how would she not know about drive-thrus? Do you have kids that are not infants?

No my kids aren't that young, my oldest is a teen. Be we almost never go thru a drive thru so they never ask as we're driving by them. A family with a habit of stopping often would make more sense for the kid begging for it. They don't ask for things they aren't used to in the first place.

Of course they do! Teens are extremely easily influenced. My neighbors growing up got take out all the time and were so jealous of them! My mother would make us a nice home made meal and we would wanting the neighbors KFC.

Hopefully once she starts earning her own money she is more aware - once I started working I was always calculating how many hours of work it would take to pay for something, and it really made aware of how much things cost.

Teens absolutely ask for things that they see their friends getting even if they aren't used to getting that thing at home. What a weird idea.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is a 15 yr old who doesn't drive obsessed with drive thrus? She's getting that experience somewhere to keep asking for it. Why would she demand Starbucks for breakfast if there is no history of it? Something is missing here.

She’s 15 - how would she not know about drive-thrus? Do you have kids that are not infants?

No my kids aren't that young, my oldest is a teen. Be we almost never go thru a drive thru so they never ask as we're driving by them. A family with a habit of stopping often would make more sense for the kid begging for it. They don't ask for things they aren't used to in the first place.

Of course they do! Teens are extremely easily influenced. My neighbors growing up got take out all the time and were so jealous of them! My mother would make us a nice home made meal and we would wanting the neighbors KFC.

Hopefully once she starts earning her own money she is more aware - once I started working I was always calculating how many hours of work it would take to pay for something, and it really made aware of how much things cost.

Meh i think OP is indulging the obsession too much and the family probably has some pretty bad habits. This isn’t all peer pressure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is a 15 yr old who doesn't drive obsessed with drive thrus? She's getting that experience somewhere to keep asking for it. Why would she demand Starbucks for breakfast if there is no history of it? Something is missing here.

She’s 15 - how would she not know about drive-thrus? Do you have kids that are not infants?

No my kids aren't that young, my oldest is a teen. Be we almost never go thru a drive thru so they never ask as we're driving by them. A family with a habit of stopping often would make more sense for the kid begging for it. They don't ask for things they aren't used to in the first place.

Of course they do! Teens are extremely easily influenced. My neighbors growing up got take out all the time and were so jealous of them! My mother would make us a nice home made meal and we would wanting the neighbors KFC.

Hopefully once she starts earning her own money she is more aware - once I started working I was always calculating how many hours of work it would take to pay for something, and it really made aware of how much things cost.

But you ate your mom’s dinner. OPs daughter is getting her fast food either on her own or begging others. You begrudgingly ate your dinner, like most people end up doing when there aren’t other options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 15 DD is literally obsessed with eating out almost every meal. She asks for us to get take out, she wants to order Uber eats, if we are driving somewhere she begs to stop to go to a drive through. For ex this week she’s asked for South Block, Baskin-Robbins, Tropical Smoothie, Chipotle, Starbucks, ihop, and take out from a local Mexican place.

We do not eat out often as a family due to time constraints with their sports. We do not do food delivery unless it’s pizza. I don’t drink coffee so there’s no Starbucks habit. If we get take out it’s sushi. Hence we typically eat most of all meals from home that we have made, unless it’s a special occasion. I’m not opposed to going to restaurants it’s just we don’t often have that time.

We just aren’t a take out or under eats or drive through family. 1) it’s really expensive and 2) restaurant food is full of salt, oil, etc and isn’t good for you in large volumes. But if there is a team dinner or a birthday or we want to be spontaneous, sure. We also have plenty of food at home, and I ask my kids every week what they want to eat. Our cub boards aren’t bear.

My teen literally has found ways for friends and her boyfriend to order her food, constantly. One day she had tropical smoothie, McDonald’s and ihop all in one day. If she asks for Starbucks and we say you have to pay for it (she has an allowance) she claims we are trying to make her skinny and don’t want to eat and are giving her an eating disorder. She’s at a perfectly healthy weight, we don’t make those comments, and we don’t restrict food in our house. We just say no to the daily (sometimes multiple times a day) with take out/fast food.

We do have a family therapist but the advice she’s been giving us isn’t working. My daughter seems to be laser focused on this power dynamic. I can’t control what she does outside this house or how she gets her friends/boyfriend to spend money on her but she brings that defiant attitude into the house. This morning she claimed we were neglecting her and not wanting her to eat because again we said no Starbucks and that she can eat one of the 50 other things we have at home for breakfast. Can anyone offer some advice? I am worried once she goes to college she’ll end up broke in the first month from spending all her money on take out food.

So she has a boyfriend? That’s a red flag right there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is a 15 yr old who doesn't drive obsessed with drive thrus? She's getting that experience somewhere to keep asking for it. Why would she demand Starbucks for breakfast if there is no history of it? Something is missing here.

She’s 15 - how would she not know about drive-thrus? Do you have kids that are not infants?

No my kids aren't that young, my oldest is a teen. Be we almost never go thru a drive thru so they never ask as we're driving by them. A family with a habit of stopping often would make more sense for the kid begging for it. They don't ask for things they aren't used to in the first place.

Of course they do! Teens are extremely easily influenced. My neighbors growing up got take out all the time and were so jealous of them! My mother would make us a nice home made meal and we would wanting the neighbors KFC.

Hopefully once she starts earning her own money she is more aware - once I started working I was always calculating how many hours of work it would take to pay for something, and it really made aware of how much things cost.

But you ate your mom’s dinner. OPs daughter is getting her fast food either on her own or begging others. You begrudgingly ate your dinner, like most people end up doing when there aren’t other options.

The apps have changed things. Twenty years ago it would have been near impossible and unheard of for a teenager to order their own dinner delivered to the home. Now they can click a button on their phone and make it happen.

[Anonymous]

Spending money eating out isn’t necessarily wasteful. As a teen, I would split an order of fries with friends at the mall. As an intern on the Hill, I knew which bars had cheap food during Happy Hour. A meal from Cheesecake Factory could last me for 3 days. 20 years later, eating at a restaurant for my family of 5 is expensive, but as a young, single woman eating out was often cheaper (and I wasn’t interested in cooking for myself anyway—I was usually working too many hours).

[Anonymous]

I’m an adult and this is how our family eats. To each their own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m an adult and this is how our family eats. To each their own.

Gross. Do you all weigh 300 pounds each?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 15 DD is literally obsessed with eating out almost every meal. She asks for us to get take out, she wants to order Uber eats, if we are driving somewhere she begs to stop to go to a drive through. For ex this week she’s asked for South Block, Baskin-Robbins, Tropical Smoothie, Chipotle, Starbucks, ihop, and take out from a local Mexican place.

We do not eat out often as a family due to time constraints with their sports. We do not do food delivery unless it’s pizza. I don’t drink coffee so there’s no Starbucks habit. If we get take out it’s sushi. Hence we typically eat most of all meals from home that we have made, unless it’s a special occasion. I’m not opposed to going to restaurants it’s just we don’t often have that time.

We just aren’t a take out or under eats or drive through family. 1) it’s really expensive and 2) restaurant food is full of salt, oil, etc and isn’t good for you in large volumes. But if there is a team dinner or a birthday or we want to be spontaneous, sure. We also have plenty of food at home, and I ask my kids every week what they want to eat. Our cub boards aren’t bear.

My teen literally has found ways for friends and her boyfriend to order her food, constantly. One day she had tropical smoothie, McDonald’s and ihop all in one day. If she asks for Starbucks and we say you have to pay for it (she has an allowance) she claims we are trying to make her skinny and don’t want to eat and are giving her an eating disorder. She’s at a perfectly healthy weight, we don’t make those comments, and we don’t restrict food in our house. We just say no to the daily (sometimes multiple times a day) with take out/fast food.

We do have a family therapist but the advice she’s been giving us isn’t working. My daughter seems to be laser focused on this power dynamic. I can’t control what she does outside this house or how she gets her friends/boyfriend to spend money on her but she brings that defiant attitude into the house. This morning she claimed we were neglecting her and not wanting her to eat because again we said no Starbucks and that she can eat one of the 50 other things we have at home for breakfast. Can anyone offer some advice? I am worried once she goes to college she’ll end up broke in the first month from spending all her money on take out food.

Her friends all eat out, You don’t. She feels deprived by what she perceives as a less than experience and she is missing out. Now she is making up for what she felt deprived off. If you are stingy on other areas, she will do the same thing in those areas in college. Just ask her outright if she feels deprived bc you guys didn’t eat out. Keep in mind she is a teen and stuff like this matters to them even thought to adults it doesn’t.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is a 15 yr old who doesn't drive obsessed with drive thrus? She's getting that experience somewhere to keep asking for it. Why would she demand Starbucks for breakfast if there is no history of it? Something is missing here.

She’s 15 - how would she not know about drive-thrus? Do you have kids that are not infants?

No my kids aren't that young, my oldest is a teen. Be we almost never go thru a drive thru so they never ask as we're driving by them. A family with a habit of stopping often would make more sense for the kid begging for it. They don't ask for things they aren't used to in the first place.

Of course they do! Teens are extremely easily influenced. My neighbors growing up got take out all the time and were so jealous of them! My mother would make us a nice home made meal and we would wanting the neighbors KFC.

Hopefully once she starts earning her own money she is more aware - once I started working I was always calculating how many hours of work it would take to pay for something, and it really made aware of how much things cost.

But you ate your mom’s dinner. OPs daughter is getting her fast food either on her own or begging others. You begrudgingly ate your dinner, like most people end up doing when there aren’t other options.

The apps have changed things. Twenty years ago it would have been near impossible and unheard of for a teenager to order their own dinner delivered to the home. Now they can click a button on their phone and make it happen.

That food isn't free. Who is paying for it? OPs kid doesn't have any money she's bumming off friends. Cut off the funding as much as you can at home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 15 DD is literally obsessed with eating out almost every meal. She asks for us to get take out, she wants to order Uber eats, if we are driving somewhere she begs to stop to go to a drive through. For ex this week she’s asked for South Block, Baskin-Robbins, Tropical Smoothie, Chipotle, Starbucks, ihop, and take out from a local Mexican place.

We do not eat out often as a family due to time constraints with their sports. We do not do food delivery unless it’s pizza. I don’t drink coffee so there’s no Starbucks habit. If we get take out it’s sushi. Hence we typically eat most of all meals from home that we have made, unless it’s a special occasion. I’m not opposed to going to restaurants it’s just we don’t often have that time.

We just aren’t a take out or under eats or drive through family. 1) it’s really expensive and 2) restaurant food is full of salt, oil, etc and isn’t good for you in large volumes. But if there is a team dinner or a birthday or we want to be spontaneous, sure. We also have plenty of food at home, and I ask my kids every week what they want to eat. Our cub boards aren’t bear.

My teen literally has found ways for friends and her boyfriend to order her food, constantly. One day she had tropical smoothie, McDonald’s and ihop all in one day. If she asks for Starbucks and we say you have to pay for it (she has an allowance) she claims we are trying to make her skinny and don’t want to eat and are giving her an eating disorder. She’s at a perfectly healthy weight, we don’t make those comments, and we don’t restrict food in our house. We just say no to the daily (sometimes multiple times a day) with take out/fast food.

We do have a family therapist but the advice she’s been giving us isn’t working. My daughter seems to be laser focused on this power dynamic. I can’t control what she does outside this house or how she gets her friends/boyfriend to spend money on her but she brings that defiant attitude into the house. This morning she claimed we were neglecting her and not wanting her to eat because again we said no Starbucks and that she can eat one of the 50 other things we have at home for breakfast. Can anyone offer some advice? I am worried once she goes to college she’ll end up broke in the first month from spending all her money on take out food.

Her friends all eat out, You don’t. She feels deprived by what she perceives as a less than experience and she is missing out. Now she is making up for what she felt deprived off. If you are stingy on other areas, she will do the same thing in those areas in college. Just ask her outright if she feels deprived bc you guys didn’t eat out. Keep in mind she is a teen and stuff like this matters to them even thought to adults it doesn’t.

So what? What teen doesn't have a story about how their life was almost ruined because their parents wouldn't buy them x, y, or z. it's part of life. And then you grow up. I don't think it's my job to grant every wish my kids desire even if we can afford it. They can learn to go without sometimes. It will be good for them in the long run.