Cleaning your plate

[Justadad]

Were you told that you couldn't leave the table until you'd "cleaned your plate", that is, eaten everything, when you were a child and do you do that with your own kids? I have to plead guilty!

 

[FrankSinatra]

I was, but at the same time I enjoy eating and food so it usually wasn't a problem. The only time it was a problem is when my parents thought I was faking it with the peas and then I puked all over the dinner table; that'll show them.

 

[Andersson]

I was raised like that and my kids were as well but sometimes we all got away without eating something. I still remember sitting at the table well past my bedtime, my mother telling me I would eat it for breakfast in the morning and I never did.

 

[polamalu43]

That is why there are so many kids that are obese. I tell my kids to take only what they want to eat. If they get full before it's gone, they can put it away and eat it later. I wouldn't force my kids to keep eating when they are full.

 

[stephen]

We had to finish everything on our plates but that's not feasible to tell the kids until they're around 8 I think. Before that it has to be all vegetables at the very least.

 

[R. Paradon]

I let my kids eat as much as they wanted...but then later on if they decided they were hungry and wanted some chips or other crap I'd tell them to heat up their dinner and eat that first! For odd some reason there was always an abundance of cupcakes in the cupboard!

 

[ghanashyam]

I know how much I can eat and how much my children can eat.Usually they way they enter the house makes clear whether they are hungry like wolves or sparrows. The food is then served. I highly object leaving unfinished things in the dish. It is really a crime against hungry people.

 

[Justadad]

That is why there are so many kids that are obese. I tell my kids to take only what they want to eat. If they get full before it's gone, they can put it away and eat it later. I wouldn't force my kids to keep eating when they are full.

That may be true if you feed your kids nothing but junk. In my day everything was fresh and home cooked from scratch, plus we knew how much was a reasonable sized portion to give a child.

 

[BigPapa]

That may be true if you feed your kids nothing but junk. In my day everything was fresh and home cooked from scratch, plus we knew how much was a reasonable sized portion to give a child.

It doesn't matter what you are feeding your kids if you make them eat past when they are full, they are going to pack on pounds. Not everyone knows what a reasonable portion size is for adults, let alone children. Besides that, many times kids aren't hungry and other times they are ravenous so a "reasonable portion size" can change dramatically from one day to the next.

 

[Victor]

It doesn't matter what you are feeding your kids if you make them eat past when they are full, they are going to pack on pounds. Not everyone knows what a reasonable portion size is for adults, let alone children. Besides that, many times kids aren't hungry and other times they are ravenous so a "reasonable portion size" can change dramatically from one day to the next.

I couldn't agree more. Kids need to learn to listen to their body's signals to avoid overeating. Most of us aren't very good at doing this and I think the "clean your plate" rule had a lot to do with that.

 

[youngone]

I was not allowed to leave the table if my plate wasn't finished. My parents came from a poor working class background, they found good jobs and improved their standard of living but their principles on not wasting food remained. I still clean my plate to this day.

 

[footballtim]

When I was a kid, I was known as the garbage pail. I not only cleaned my plate, but I cleaned everyone else's plate too. I did not care about the fact that I would not have any room for dessert.

 

[Bearsfan]

I let my kids eat as much as they wanted...but then later on if they decided they were hungry and wanted some chips or other crap I'd tell them to heat up their dinner and eat that first!

That's the rule in our house. You have to eat the good stuff before you get any desert or snack type stuff.

When I was growing up, we didn't have to eat but we always had a glass of milk we had to finish before leaving the dinner table. But dinner was the last meal and if you didn't eat that, you weren't getting anything else until breakfast.

 

[Lorenzo]

Were you told that you couldn't leave the table until you'd "cleaned your plate", that is, eaten everything, when you were a child and do you do that with your own kids? I have to plead guilty!

Yes! My parents were very strict when it comes to food. We have to eat everything we put on our plate or we would have a never-ending lecture about it. Now that I'm a parent myself, I've passed on this "habit" to my own kids, as well. I know how frustrating it must be for them, but this is one of the best ways for them to learn the value of food. I'm sure they'd understand once they become parents themselves.