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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]PP here, and I'm not the OP so I don't know what she's thinking, but I think I get the gist of it.  In my family, growing up there was a culture that we would all sit down and try what my mother made.   My brother was picky about a few things--he never really liked green vegetables or salad so my mom always had a fruit salad, and he didn't like cheese very much so my mom avoided things like mac and cheese and scalloped potatoes and typically served bread with the meal so  we wouldn't starve if there was something we absolutely wouldn't eat, but in general it was a pattern that we sat down as a family, tried a variety of foods, and my mom was not a short order cook.  My sister-in-law doesn't have this culture at all in her house.  She gets pizza, McDonalds, microwaves a TV dinner, or gives her kids a hot dog or frozen chicken nuggets.  They typically don't eat at a table, they sit in front of the TV and don't necessary all sit down as a family and eat at the same time.  My husband's family was the same way growing up.  When her kids are out of the house, my nieces generally eat chicken nuggets.  I can see how this "culture" would be annoying to someone who is used to having a family meal, especially if the kids don't want to sit down and at least try the food and behave politely at the dinner table, even if they are picky.[/quote]

I also consider having a meal together as a family to be very important, and it annoys me, for example, that my MIL, who eats over at our house often, isn't willing to sit down at the table with us and insists on eating once we've finished. That being said, what rubbed me the wrong way about OP's post was: (1) that she made it sound like she was being forced to abandon her critical family tradition because her relatives were in town for a few days and some of them weren't participating to her liking; and (2) she said it was awkward for everyone involved when really it didn't seem to bother anyone other than her; and (3) it wasn't clear if she was really upset by her family meal being disrupted or the fact that not everyone appeared to appreciate the effort she put into planning thoughtful meals. I don't really think OP needs our advice, she just needs someone to compliment her shrimp stew.[/quote]

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