My kids steal food.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Typical day: breakfast burritos and fruit. Chicken nuggets, string cheese, apples and ketchup for lunch. Chili with ground beef and rice and a veggie for dinner. Snacks about 11 and 2 and 4. Snacks might include: pepperoni, fruit leather, yogurt, carrots, bell peppers, cheese and crackers, popcorn, plus a serving of whatever we baked that day. We go for hot chocolate at Starbucks once or twice a week. We do dessert of fruit and cool whip or a serving of ice cream.

The additional food is on top of all that.

Those aren't the healthiest meals, IMO. Also, you don't need two desserts a day (baked treat plus dessert) - that's probably 500 calories right there. Try exchanging those for more protein and make sure every snack has protein too (carrots and hummus, apple and peanut butter)

Here are my kids' meals today:

Breakfast - omelets with cheese, mushrooms, and turkey bacon (This is what we had, it's not for health reasons, sometimes we have regular bacon)
Lunch - ham and cheese sandwich with cherry tomatoes on the side. They were still hungry, so they each had a mandarin orange.
Dinner - chicken souvlaki with couscous and tzatziki sauce

[Anonymous]

It sounds like the kids just need to be fed something that's wholesome that they also enjoy. Your sample menu doesn't seem filling to a growing child. My kids eat non stop because they play non stop. Buy packaged snacks that you have no problrm with them devouring. Granola bars,mixed nuts, meat sticks, cereal bars,dried fruit are great options. Limit purchasing the things you don't want them to have. Also, of they can't have it neither can you. Your husband's ice cream thing is crazy. Just buy enough to share.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Obviously, you aren't feeding them enougj.

This. And what a strange formulation: “stealing food” to refer to your own kids snacking at home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Typical day: breakfast burritos and fruit. Chicken nuggets, string cheese, apples and ketchup for lunch. Chili with ground beef and rice and a veggie for dinner. Snacks about 11 and 2 and 4. Snacks might include: pepperoni, fruit leather, yogurt, carrots, bell peppers, cheese and crackers, popcorn, plus a serving of whatever we baked that day. We go for hot chocolate at Starbucks once or twice a week. We do dessert of fruit and cool whip or a serving of ice cream.

The additional food is on top of all that.

Suggest you take a hard look at how you all eat and feed your kids.

Ketchup is a condiment, not a food. Fruit leather is garbage. Just do whole fruit. Chicken nuggets? Pepperoni? You mentioned baking--that's not healthy eating either. String cheese isn't real cheese.

Maybe do some reading on nutrition. Not what you asked about, but a pivot in eating styles for the whole family, and eliminating processed snack foods for all of you might help. And call a professional for the other parts.

WTF? Of course it's real cheese. Its mozzarella.

I agree with everything else, but I would've been nicer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like the kids just need to be fed something that's wholesome that they also enjoy. Your sample menu doesn't seem filling to a growing child. My kids eat non stop because they play non stop. Buy packaged snacks that you have no problrm with them devouring. Granola bars,mixed nuts, meat sticks, cereal bars,dried fruit are great options. Limit purchasing the things you don't want them to have. Also, of they can't have it neither can you. Your husband's ice cream thing is crazy. Just buy enough to share.

Just came here to say that granola bars are never a great option. Or filling.

[Anonymous]

Hi OP!

I was a kid who stole food and your kids sound a lot like me. I wish my parents had dealt with it because it led to being overweight, then a binge eating disorder, followed by a 20 year struggle with bulimia and disordered eating (which I'm still dealing with).

Anxiety, depression, and (at the time undiagnosed) ADHD led to my food stealing. Most of the time I wasn't even hungry.

I would not recommend not buying things anymore. It will just lead to hoarding and stealing when you eventually buy things again. Or they will try to figure out where you are hiding "your" supply. What you need to do is work with a new therapist. A lot of this is behavior influenced and finding the right therapist/meds/whatever will work wonders. It may not be a bad idea to find a therapist for yourself or resources for a parent dealing with impulse control issues. Anyways OP, I hope you're able to get your kids some help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Typical day: breakfast burritos and fruit. Chicken nuggets, string cheese, apples and ketchup for lunch. Chili with ground beef and rice and a veggie for dinner. Snacks about 11 and 2 and 4. Snacks might include: pepperoni, fruit leather, yogurt, carrots, bell peppers, cheese and crackers, popcorn, plus a serving of whatever we baked that day. We go for hot chocolate at Starbucks once or twice a week. We do dessert of fruit and cool whip or a serving of ice cream.

The additional food is on top of all that.

It could be an issue with portion size. My 3.5 and 7 go through food like you can’t imagine. A typical breakfast is two eggs, large bowl of oatmeal, and fruit. Lunch might be a large serving of meat or other protein plus veggies, rice, fruit. I’m talking a large plate that could feed a big adult. If we take them to an Indian buffet restaurant they are eating 2 or 3 full plates. These are skinny kids, but they eat a lot. I remember when I was your daughter’s age I was constantly hungry because although my parents tried to feed us well, there just wasn’t enough protein and fat and meals and meal portions were quite small.

[Anonymous]

Wow. That’s crazy.

My kids would never steal food. The food we buy for the household is for all of us, so since it’s already their food, it’s impossible for them to steal it.

You sound super controlling about food.

[Anonymous]

If you consider that “stealing“ food you have a food problem, not them. Food shouldn’t be off limits. Have healthy food options and some snacks and let your kids eat what they want to eat when they want to eat it. You are setting up a lifetime of food issues for them.

[Anonymous]

I don't get why it's a problem that your kids eat lunch meat, strawberries, crackers, or even leftover lasagna. Isn't this food meant for them? We buy strawberries for our family to eat. Same with crackers. Crackers?? If they were raiding the caviar or the freezer for grandma's home made mandel bread, okay, I could see that you would be upset, but they are eating everyday FOOD that you buy for the family. This seems like a control issue, totally. "I only want you to do and eat what I tell you to do." Why can't they eat these foods if they want to? You say one child has a weight problem, but strawberries are not going to make someone overweight. And Weight Watchers allows unlimited servings of fruit -- you can eat as much as you want, every single day. Same with lean meat. I just don't understand your attitude.

[Anonymous]

How can food belong to someone else within a family? Other than teaching them that it's not polite to have the last piece of dad's favorite cake, I think your rules are very rigid and they are rebelling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't get why it's a problem that your kids eat lunch meat, strawberries, crackers, or even leftover lasagna. Isn't this food meant for them? We buy strawberries for our family to eat. Same with crackers. Crackers?? If they were raiding the caviar or the freezer for grandma's home made mandel bread, okay, I could see that you would be upset, but they are eating everyday FOOD that you buy for the family. This seems like a control issue, totally. "I only want you to do and eat what I tell you to do." Why can't they eat these foods if they want to? You say one child has a weight problem, but strawberries are not going to make someone overweight. And Weight Watchers allows unlimited servings of fruit -- you can eat as much as you want, every single day. Same with lean meat. I just don't understand your attitude.

Completely agree. And now I am craving mandel bread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't get why it's a problem that your kids eat lunch meat, strawberries, crackers, or even leftover lasagna. Isn't this food meant for them? We buy strawberries for our family to eat. Same with crackers. Crackers?? If they were raiding the caviar or the freezer for grandma's home made mandel bread, okay, I could see that you would be upset, but they are eating everyday FOOD that you buy for the family. This seems like a control issue, totally. "I only want you to do and eat what I tell you to do." Why can't they eat these foods if they want to? You say one child has a weight problem, but strawberries are not going to make someone overweight. And Weight Watchers allows unlimited servings of fruit -- you can eat as much as you want, every single day. Same with lean meat. I just don't understand your attitude.

Completely agree. And now I am craving mandel bread.

I think OPs point was they were eating the entire box of crackers and entire pint of strawberries, in one serving. That isn't normal snacking, that is compulsive eating and I would be concerned too

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't get why it's a problem that your kids eat lunch meat, strawberries, crackers, or even leftover lasagna. Isn't this food meant for them? We buy strawberries for our family to eat. Same with crackers. Crackers?? If they were raiding the caviar or the freezer for grandma's home made mandel bread, okay, I could see that you would be upset, but they are eating everyday FOOD that you buy for the family. This seems like a control issue, totally. "I only want you to do and eat what I tell you to do." Why can't they eat these foods if they want to? You say one child has a weight problem, but strawberries are not going to make someone overweight. And Weight Watchers allows unlimited servings of fruit -- you can eat as much as you want, every single day. Same with lean meat. I just don't understand your attitude.

Completely agree. And now I am craving mandel bread.

I think OPs point was they were eating the entire box of crackers and entire pint of strawberries, in one serving. That isn't normal snacking, that is compulsive eating and I would be concerned too

A pint of strawberries between two kids is not much... How big is the box of crackers?

If they are deliberately eating what OP designated as off limits, it sounds like rebellion to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Typical day: breakfast burritos and fruit. Chicken nuggets, string cheese, apples and ketchup for lunch. Chili with ground beef and rice and a veggie for dinner. Snacks about 11 and 2 and 4. Snacks might include: pepperoni, fruit leather, yogurt, carrots, bell peppers, cheese and crackers, popcorn, plus a serving of whatever we baked that day. We go for hot chocolate at Starbucks once or twice a week. We do dessert of fruit and cool whip or a serving of ice cream.

The additional food is on top of all that.

Those aren't the healthiest meals, IMO. Also, you don't need two desserts a day (baked treat plus dessert) - that's probably 500 calories right there. Try exchanging those for more protein and make sure every snack has protein too (carrots and hummus, apple and peanut butter)

Here are my kids' meals today:

Breakfast - omelets with cheese, mushrooms, and turkey bacon (This is what we had, it's not for health reasons, sometimes we have regular bacon)
Lunch - ham and cheese sandwich with cherry tomatoes on the side. They were still hungry, so they each had a mandarin orange.
Dinner - chicken souvlaki with couscous and tzatziki sauce

Her menu looks fine. It looks pretty typical to what most kids eat. In fact, I would say it is probably better than what the majority of kids are eating (fast food, soda, packaged foods, etc).

OPs menu is in no way a reason why her kids (but I think mainly her DD) are eating through gallons of ice cream and boxes of crackers outside of snacks and meals.