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       #Post#: 32813--------------------------------------------------
       Re: House rules vs honoring a guests request
       By: bopper Date: June 13, 2019, 1:12 pm
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       The Host sister is within her rights to control what her
       children eat...but she should have said "No shrimp is necessary
       for us/the kids" but thank you for offering.
       When she started controlling what the guest sister was doing as
       a nice gesture (providing a pricy appetizer for all) then she
       went over the line.
       #Post#: 32814--------------------------------------------------
       Re: House rules vs honoring a guests request
       By: JeanFromBNA Date: June 13, 2019, 1:19 pm
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       Hmmm, I heard that call, and thought of this forum!
       I agree that the caller should bend the rules for a special
       occasion. As Dr. Laura said, nobody has ever died from only
       eating appetizers.
       The way that this would be a deal breaker for me would be if the
       guest sister had a habit of constantly tinkering with the menu
       after it had been agreed upon, shopped for and purchased, or
       demanding special accommodations after the fact, e.g., kid
       decides at the table that he won't eat chicken, and sister
       demands that we whip up mac 'n' cheese. Using the same reasoning
       above, he won't die from only eating the side dishes.
       #Post#: 32818--------------------------------------------------
       Re: House rules vs honoring a guests request
       By: caroled Date: June 13, 2019, 1:41 pm
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       Good gracious, but host sister seems to be way to rigid and
       crossing into judgmental when it comes to how her sister feeds
       her children. It wasn't as if guest sister was asking for
       macaroni and cheese, or potatoes au gratin, pasta, fries, any
       number of other carb heavy, calorie laden items ( as delicious
       as they may be) that a lot of people serve as a side dish as
       part of a meal. It was PEAS! I wouldn't have thought twice about
       adding peas to the dinner along with the salad just for the sake
       of options. We quite often serve salad and some other
       vegetables, to stretch the meal and get another healthy item on
       the menu because my 11 year old niece doesn't like salad, but
       will eat green beans, carrots, broc, peas, corn, and loves baby
       green lima beans( go figure).
       As others have said, and was mentioned in the OP ( guest saying
       host had been difficult all day), there seems to be a lot of
       backstory we weren't made privy to.
       #Post#: 32819--------------------------------------------------
       Re: House rules vs honoring a guests request
       By: Gellchom Date: June 13, 2019, 1:52 pm
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       Oh, brother -- or, perhaps, sister -- this woman sounds like a
       real piece of work.  And we are hearing the story from her own
       point of view!
       I am picturing Guest Sister saying something like, "It's Julia's
       birthday that day, so I'd like to bring a cake," and Host Sister
       refusing on the ground that Her Children aren't allowed to have
       sweets.
       If her family had some kind of serious issue like major allergy
       or eating disorders that any menu changes could substantially
       affect, there wouldn't be anything wrong with her saying
       something like, "I'm really sorry, but we can't because ____."
       But that doesn't seem to be the case.
       This sure doesn't sound to me like it's about food at all.
       #Post#: 32843--------------------------------------------------
       Re: House rules vs honoring a guests request
       By: MiriamCatriona Date: June 13, 2019, 4:58 pm
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       I agree with everyone about Host being needlessly inflexible.
       However, it also sounds like Guest invited herself (and
       children) over for dinner.  Then she asked Host to provide an
       additional item not on the planned menu, instead of buying a bag
       of peas and heating them up herself.
       Neither comes off great.
       #Post#: 32853--------------------------------------------------
       Re: House rules vs honoring a guests request
       By: Rose Red Date: June 13, 2019, 6:08 pm
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       [quote author=MiriamCatriona link=topic=1185.msg32843#msg32843
       date=1560463129]
       I agree with everyone about Host being needlessly inflexible.
       However, it also sounds like Guest invited herself (and
       children) over for dinner.  Then she asked Host to provide an
       additional item not on the planned menu, instead of buying a bag
       of peas and heating them up herself.
       Neither comes off great.
       [/quote]
       To me, it sounded like host sister invited guest sister,
       children, and their mom to dinner. After the fight, host sister
       told guest sister to take her shrimp and peas. So it sounds like
       guest sister *did* buy peas?
       I wonder if there's a transcript somewhere so we know the exact
       words.
       #Post#: 32867--------------------------------------------------
       Re: House rules vs honoring a guests request
       By: Hmmm Date: June 14, 2019, 8:35 am
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       [quote author=MiriamCatriona link=topic=1185.msg32843#msg32843
       date=1560463129]
       I agree with everyone about Host being needlessly inflexible.
       However, it also sounds like Guest invited herself (and
       children) over for dinner.  Then she asked Host to provide an
       additional item not on the planned menu, instead of buying a bag
       of peas and heating them up herself.
       Neither comes off great.
       [/quote]
       No, the host had planned for her family to come over to dinner
       after going to her son's play that day. It also sounded like
       guest sister purchased and brought the shrimp. I don't know if
       visiting sister had the peas with her or host had them at her
       house. If I recall correctly, I think host said "sister asked to
       make peas for her kids" but it could have been she asked the
       host to make peas, I can't remember. Either way, it didn't sound
       like host wanted the peas served no matter where they came from
       or who made them.
       #Post#: 32883--------------------------------------------------
       Re: House rules vs honoring a guests request
       By: Sycorax Date: June 14, 2019, 12:42 pm
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       Host does sound weirdly inflexible.  I don't think my kids were
       ever confused if we had to temporarily change our regular
       routine to accommodate guests.  (or do things differently if we
       were at someone else's house)
       I'm wondering if this is more about the dynamic between the
       sisters.
       #Post#: 32887--------------------------------------------------
       Re: House rules vs honoring a guests request
       By: Rose Red Date: June 14, 2019, 1:33 pm
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       When I was a kid, we only got sweets and soda when guests come
       over. If a guest (even family) make a reasonable request, they
       got it. My parents would be horrified by this ungracious
       behavior.
       Children definitely know there's a difference when there are
       guests.
       I wondered about the dynamics between the sisters, but if she
       wouldn't act this way with other guests (say, coworkers or
       neighbors), why would she call a radio station? Makes me think
       this is just how she is.
       #Post#: 32891--------------------------------------------------
       Re: House rules vs honoring a guests request
       By: NFPwife Date: June 14, 2019, 2:16 pm
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       Host sister was really rigid in this interaction. Children can
       differentiate that there are different rules at different houses
       and house rules in their home can change when guests are
       present. I agree with everyone who said the shrimp were not a
       "snack" but an appetizer. My MIL didn't want anyone spoiling
       their appetite before dinner; she'd call and remind us to be
       sure we came to her home hungry and didn't spoil our appetites
       at our own home. So I considered this from her perspective, she
       would have put out the shrimp as an appetizer and would not have
       labeled them a "snack." She often had appetizers out on her
       table. This is some other argument or issue playing out in this
       arena. It's not about shrimp and peas.
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