Was Feeding Kids Junk for a Weekend Really That Bad? Reddit Debates Childcare and Nutrition Expectations
Someone on Reddit caused a big argument in the r/AmItheAsshole subreddit when they said they fed their nieces “junk food” for three days while they were watching. The post went popular and started a larger conversation about what modern parents are expected to do, how to plan healthy meals for kids, and the stress that non-parents feel when they have to take on temporary caregiving roles. Some people thought the decision was careless, while others thought it was the right thing to do because there wasn’t much time to plan, especially since the deal was unpaid and made at the last minute.
Watching over kids whose diet is nothing like yours can be more challenging than it seems
Even when they’re family
When older family members are in charge of childcare, expectations can get in the way, especially when it comes to the kids’ food and eating habits. Two nieces, ages 5 and 7, were going on vacation with their parents over a long weekend. A woman who is 28 years old agreed to watch them. The arrangement was casual and not paid, which is normal in the U.S. when families care for children.
The aunt is a strict vegan, so at first she tried to feed the kids plant-based foods like chickpea quinoa bowls, but they wouldn’t eat them. When people didn’t want to eat healthy, she served comfort foods like mac and cheese, frozen pizza, and McDonald’s. The kids’ father was angry and said she was hurting their diet.
This event brings up an important question: what level of nutritional care should parents and other family members who are briefly watching children provide? They say that kids should eat well-balanced meals, but that being flexible in the short term probably won’t hurt them in the long run. In fact, paediatric dietitians agree that breaking a pattern once in a while, especially for a short time like the weekend, is not a health risk (source).
The aunt tried healthy foods like fruit smoothies and peanut butter sandwiches at first, but she changed her mind when the girls didn’t like her veggie meals. From the point of view of behavioural parenting, making kids eat foods they don’t like can fail and make them associate mealtimes with bad things.
To add another layer to the story, the kids’ mum later said that the dad forgot to make and deliver the healthy meals he was meant to send with the girls. Not only did she say sorry, but she also paid the aunt back for the food, which was a roundabout way of confirming that the carer wasn’t given the right tasks from the start.
Most of the people who read the woman’s story didn’t think she did anything wrong
