Unfiltered Story #215219

We’re having family dinner. My parents have put a full plate of food in front of me, the same size as theirs. I take some bites of this and that until I am full. A LOT of food is left on my plate.

Me: “I’m done.”

Mom: “No you’re not – you have to eat everything!”

Me: “No way! That’s a ton! I can’t eat all that!”

Mom: *determinedly* “Of course you can! *We’re* both eating ALL our food, see?! You can’t leave the table till you finish everything.”

Dad: “Yes, [My Name], stop arguing and eat all your food.”

Me: “But that’s not fair! I’m a LOT smaller than both of you!” *Dad’s always had funny metabolism and a near-bottomless stomach, and mom is a grown woman of about 70 kilos – while I’m a skinny 5-yo about a third her size.*

Me: “There’s no way I should eat as much as you!”

Mom: *condescendingly* “Buuuuut,[My Name]; that just means you’re growing! And we’re adults and NOT growing anymore! So you see, because you’re growing you *obviously* need to eat just as much food as us grown adults do!”

Me: *stumped* “…but…. that’s… I can’t eat this much!”

Mom: *firmly* “Stop arguing – I already explained to you why you must eat everything! It makes perfect sense! You have to eat everything on your plate or you’re disobeying!
Go on now; you’d better eat. You’re not allowed to leave the table till you finish it!”

(I sat there for several hours after they left the table to watch TV, staring at the plate and occasionally choking down a few bites of by now totally cold food, feeling terribly guilty for misbehaving. They eventually let me go, probably only because I had to sleep sometime and I would bother them by staying up – and clearly the food would just go bad.

The battles over food continued my entire childhood, with my parents trying to make me eat till I was sick and endlessly guilt tripping me for my “disobedience” when I could never eat enough at a meal.)