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“I Am Fed Up”: Wife Stops Cooking For Picky Husband And Son, Finds Unexpected Peace
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Husband’s And Son’s Insane Pickiness Breaks Wife’s Will, She Embraces ‘Girl Dinners’ Alone

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Being an adult can get tiring. But being a working mom is exhausting. Especially if you don’t have help at home. On top of your 9-5, you’re dealing with kids, laundry, cleaning and, let’s not forget cooking. If you’re lucky, your family will eat whatever you make, and devour it with gratitude.

But that’s not always the case. One fed-up mother recently went online to share her experience of living with “the pickiest eaters on the planet”. The woman considers herself to be quite a good cook but her fussy husband and son keep turning their noses up at their plates. She’s sick and tired of food going to waste. And is considering hanging up her oven gloves for good, but isn’t sure if she should.

Deciding what to make for dinner can be difficult, especially when you have to take everyone’s preferences into consideration

Image credits: jm_video (not the actual image)

For this woman, it’s a nightmare because her husband and son refuse to eat most of the food she cooks

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Image credits: karmanovalive (not the actual image)

Image credits: IDONTKNOWPICKLES

There are many benefits to having a healthy and well-balanced diet

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Image credits: Meruyert Gonullu (not the actual image)

A healthy diet not only helps protect against malnutrition, but also serves as a defence against  noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) like like diabetes, heart disease, stroke and cancer. According to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, unhealthy eating contributes to approximately 678,000 deaths in the U.S each year.

Children who don’t eat enough healthy foods are at risk of growth and developmental problems, poor academic performance, and frequent infections. If their bad eating habits are left unchecked, they could continue to choose just chicken fingers right into adulthood. Much like the exhausted mom’s husband.

And of course, if an unhealthy eater doesn’t exercise, there’s the added risk of obesity. It’s a big problem in America, and some other parts of the world. The Center for Science in the Public Interest revealed that in the last 30 years, obesity rates have doubled in adults, tripled in children, and quadrupled in adolescents.

Eating the same three meals on rotation is unlikely to give you all the nutrients you need. Although it does depend on the ingredients of those meals. According to the “Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025“, the core elements of a healthy diet include fruits, vegetables, grains, dairy (lactose-free versions or fortified soy beverages as alternatives), protein and oils. “A healthy dietary pattern doesn’t have much room for extra added sugars, saturated fat, or sodium—or for alcoholic beverages,” reads the guideline.

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Scientists say our genes play a part in how fussy we are when it comes to food

Image credits: cottonbro studio / Pexels (not the actual photo)

It turns out that picky eating is a result of differences in DNA. “Food fussiness is not something that arises from parenting. It really does come down to the genetic differences between us,” said behavioral geneticist at UCL, Dr Zeynep Nas. Nas was part of a research team that looked into the reasons children refuse to eat certain foods.

The team recently compared the eating habits of identical twins and non-identical twins. Identical twins share 100% of their genes, while non-identical twins share only half. They found that fussy eating habits were more similar among identical twins than non-identical twins.

It wasn’t the first study to blame genetics for food fussiness. In 2022, an Italian research institute led a study into the genetics of food preferences. “Although flavour is the first driver of food choices, genetic differences are more likely to determine how the brain responds to them,” said lead researcher, Dr Nicola Pirastu.

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Many parents will deal with picky eaters at some point in their journey

Image credits: Kaboompics.com / Pexels (not the actual photo)

Experts define picky eaters as those ‘who consume an inadequate variety of foods through rejection of a substantial amount of food that are familiar (as well as unfamiliar) to them’.

Psychology Today reports that picky eating affects around 20% of children in one way or another. “Navigating picky eating can be emotionally exhausting and triggers anxieties about nutritional deficiencies, growth delays, and health problems,” reads the site.

Some of the ways to combat picky eating in children are to lead by example in what you eat, to create a positive mealtime environment, to encourage mindful eating and to show your own curiosity and excitement about tasting new dishes.

Netizens shared their own similar stories and advised the mom to cook nice meals for herself

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Some felt the mom was wrong for not cooking for her child

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Robyn Smith

Robyn Smith

Writer, BoredPanda staff

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Robyn is an award-winning journalist who has produced work for several international media outlets. Made in Africa and exported to the world, she is obsessed with travel and the allure of new places. A lover of words and visuals, Robyn is part of the Bored Panda writing team. This Panda has two bamboo tattoos: A map of Africa & the words "Be Like The Bamboo... Bend Never Break."

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Robyn Smith

Robyn Smith

Writer, BoredPanda staff

Robyn is an award-winning journalist who has produced work for several international media outlets. Made in Africa and exported to the world, she is obsessed with travel and the allure of new places. A lover of words and visuals, Robyn is part of the Bored Panda writing team. This Panda has two bamboo tattoos: A map of Africa & the words "Be Like The Bamboo... Bend Never Break."

Dominyka

Dominyka

Author, BoredPanda staff

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I'm a Visual Editor at Bored Panda, crafting captivating visual content to enhance every reader's experience. Sometimes my mornings are spent diving into juicy dramas, while afternoons are all about adding extra laughs to the world by editing the funniest memes around. My favorite part of the job? Choosing the perfect images to illustrate articles. It's like imagining a story as a movie in my mind and selecting the key shots to tell the story visually.

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Dominyka

Dominyka

Author, BoredPanda staff

I'm a Visual Editor at Bored Panda, crafting captivating visual content to enhance every reader's experience. Sometimes my mornings are spent diving into juicy dramas, while afternoons are all about adding extra laughs to the world by editing the funniest memes around. My favorite part of the job? Choosing the perfect images to illustrate articles. It's like imagining a story as a movie in my mind and selecting the key shots to tell the story visually.

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Bowtechie
Community Member
1 month ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm totally on the side of the commenters saying she should just cook a nice meal for herself and not the others. The son seems to just be following the husband's example since he was adventurous before but now is being a typical teen and/or wanting to emulate stepdad as the (I assume) primary male figure in the house. I have a feeling if the son watches his mom enjoy things she likes for long enough the old curiosity will slowly come back and he'll want to try what she's eating as he gets more and more bored with what stepdad's eating. Of course, I may also be completely wrong on that front, but that doesn't change my opinion mom should just cook for herself and rediscover her love for it for her own benefit. Husband can lump it and get off his a*s to cook for himself.

Ivy at Eve
Community Member
3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I agree. It may take a while but smelling the good food and seeing mom enjoying a meal, will have him want to try once again. She might be playing the long game. Regarding hubby: cook your own dinner or eat what is provided. If he chooses to go hungry on a full table, well, first world problems...

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CanadianDimes
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The YTA who ordered her to learn Jamaican food is delusional if her husband and son don’t like Spanish food, they’re not going to like Jamaican food either.

Brian Droste
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If I had someone to cook for me, I wouldn't complain what they cooked for me as long as it is food I liked. Even if it wasn't quite to my taste but palatable, I would eat it anyways and not complain. They went to a lot of trouble to prepare it and cook it for what, maybe 10 minutes of eating?

Sand Ers
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My other half prefers to do the cooking, and the only thing I’m at all picky about is that I dislike food spiced with capsaicin (chili peppers), raw onion, or detectable amounts of pepper. In 24 years I’ve only ever been handed one thing that was inedible, and we were both in agreement on that. I wouldn’t dream of complaining even if something isn’t on my list of favorites. “Not favorite” beats “no food” every time.

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Bowtechie
Community Member
1 month ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm totally on the side of the commenters saying she should just cook a nice meal for herself and not the others. The son seems to just be following the husband's example since he was adventurous before but now is being a typical teen and/or wanting to emulate stepdad as the (I assume) primary male figure in the house. I have a feeling if the son watches his mom enjoy things she likes for long enough the old curiosity will slowly come back and he'll want to try what she's eating as he gets more and more bored with what stepdad's eating. Of course, I may also be completely wrong on that front, but that doesn't change my opinion mom should just cook for herself and rediscover her love for it for her own benefit. Husband can lump it and get off his a*s to cook for himself.

Ivy at Eve
Community Member
3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I agree. It may take a while but smelling the good food and seeing mom enjoying a meal, will have him want to try once again. She might be playing the long game. Regarding hubby: cook your own dinner or eat what is provided. If he chooses to go hungry on a full table, well, first world problems...

Load More Replies...
CanadianDimes
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The YTA who ordered her to learn Jamaican food is delusional if her husband and son don’t like Spanish food, they’re not going to like Jamaican food either.

Brian Droste
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If I had someone to cook for me, I wouldn't complain what they cooked for me as long as it is food I liked. Even if it wasn't quite to my taste but palatable, I would eat it anyways and not complain. They went to a lot of trouble to prepare it and cook it for what, maybe 10 minutes of eating?

Sand Ers
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My other half prefers to do the cooking, and the only thing I’m at all picky about is that I dislike food spiced with capsaicin (chili peppers), raw onion, or detectable amounts of pepper. In 24 years I’ve only ever been handed one thing that was inedible, and we were both in agreement on that. I wouldn’t dream of complaining even if something isn’t on my list of favorites. “Not favorite” beats “no food” every time.

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