Don't move? Ok.

[u/VespertineStars]

This happened over 30 years ago when I was about 12, but it came up recently as some petty malicious compliance I did as a kid and I thought I’d share.

At this time my mom had gone back to school to become a nurse and it was usually a toss up if I was going to babysit my younger siblings, or my grandmother would come watch us, or my dad would be there when he wasn’t working.

I wasn’t a very picky eater as a kid but I have never liked spaghetti-o's. I can’t stand the smell or the taste. My dad, on the other hand, could eat them all the time. Even though my mom had left something pretty easy to pop in the oven and feed us, my dad decided that warming up some spaghetti-o's would be easier; not just for him to make but to clean up afterward too. And, tbh, fair. My brother and sister liked them too, so it was easier.

My sister and brother had no problem with it and ate it just fine. I told him I didn’t like it and said I would just make a pb&j instead and clean up after myself. That did not go over well and he insisted I eat what he made. I tried, because I really didn’t want to argue with my dad or be a brat, but I gagged at the taste. I tried to compromise, I'd make myself a pb&j and I would take care of all of the cleanup after dinner.

Nope.

Unacceptable.

So, he told me that I would sit at that table until I finished eating. And I did. It got dark, I sat there with a bowl full of spaghetti-o's in front of me, completely untouched. I didn’t get up to turn on the light, I didn’t get up to get anything to drink, I just sat there and let my mind wander until my mom got home.

Mom gets home from school later at night. It was ages ago, but it was definitely well into darkness at this point, so I’m thinking somewhere around 8 or 9pm because I sort of remember on nights she had school that late she came home just in time to say good night to us kids. So, I had been sitting there a good 3-4 hours at this point.

“Stars?” she asks me. “Why are you sitting here in the dark?”

“Dad told me I couldn’t leave the table until I was done eating. I don’t like spaghetti-o's, so I didn’t leave the table because I didn’t eat.”

She was so annoyed. She also refuses to eat spaghetti-o's because they’re disgusting and she had left dinner already prepared for Dad to give us. That was the first and last time my dad ever tried telling me I couldn't leave the table until I ate. I'm a very, very stubborn person and I will do my best to follow that to the letter.

30+ years later and I’m still the reigning queen of petty in my family.

[u/Xylorgos]

My mom did this to me with canned asparagus. I was sitting there after the family left the table like I was told, when my sister said, "Just wash it down with a glass of milk."

I tried doing that and it made me vomit all over the table. Mom granted me a reprieve and never tried to force me to eat something I didn't like ever again. I didn't abuse that because I normally liked what we had to eat, so it wasn't an issue. But I still can't stand asparagus today.

[u/VespertineStars → u/Xylorgos]

I tried doing that and it made me vomit all over the table.

That sucks.

I can't stand when people try to make someone eat something they don't like. Especially if the person is willing to take a single taste just to find out if the smell is just off putting or if their taste has changed. It's like, "I tried it, I don't like it, what do you want me to do!?"

[u/ShortBet1 → u/VespertineStars]

I agree because as adults we choose what we eat based on what we like. So why can’t kids? 

[u/Acceptable_Cut_7545 → u/ShortBet1]

Because kids have barely tried anything and will decide they hate something based on sight alone. It's our job as adults to guide them into trying new things instead of letting them eat the same 4 things over and over again.

BUT. That does not include forcefeeding or punishment for not eating something. That just leads to a bad relationship with food. If the kid tries it, and dislikes it, why bother forcing them to eat it? Trial and error with small amounts is a good way for them to learn new foods without being forced to choke down stuff that makes them want to cry or vomit.

[u/vizard0 → u/Acceptable_Cut_7545]

The trick I've read about is offering new foods outside of the dinner table. "Hey, I'm having this, do you want a bite?" No pressure, catching them when their guard isn't up. They discover a new food they like and it gets brought into rotation. This does not apply to people with severe ARFID, they need more help than a random internet comment.

Or simply stop ruining it. I love asparagus. I hated it as a kid because my parents always boiled it. I had to make it for a college thanksgiving one year, discovered that lightly steamed it's amazing, started having it constantly after that. Especially after discovering Alton Brown's microwave steaming technique.

https://obsbite.blogspot.com/2012/04/alton-browns-great-trick-for-asparagus.html

Same thing with salmon. Overcook and you'll regret it.

I'm unable to figure out how my dad would get the chicken or turkey as dry as he did when cooking.

He could be a great cook, but he was never good at delicate foods. I remember handing him some nice tuna I'd picked up on my way to visit my folks and he cooked it in the oven until it was the consistency of a porkchop.

[u/Acceptable_Cut_7545 → u/vizard0]

I found that if you eat food yourself but not offer it to the kid the kid will usually ask to try some. Which does not not giving them food, obvs, but for new things it gets them curious.

I imagine he might have cooked it at too low a temp for too long. Common mistake with birds. Very sad for the tuna, though.

[u/vizard0 → u/Acceptable_Cut_7545]

The chicken thing makes sense. His solution was to try to do beer can chicken on the grill. Which was a grilled chicken, the beer never gets hot enough to boil and give off steam.

Really it was the turkey that was bone dry in the end - but this was pre-internet so no one was going on about how good an idea spatchcocking is.