Why do parents let thier pickiness rub off onto thier kids?

Question

Ok...example....I was at the convience store the other day and a little girl picked out a diet coke. She put it on the counter and her father goes "You don't want that, thats YUCKY!"

I wanted to say "dude, if she wants to try it let her."

But instead he grabbed her a sugar and calorie loaded coke.

The same thing goes with all foods and drinks. When the parents act like picky brats and say "oh I dont like that" or "oh thats YUCKY" then don't they know that thier kids are going to emulate that same behavior?

Im not saying to buy everything that they want. Lets use some logic here people. Im saying that this is a cause of junk food eating fat kids!! And picky bratty kids!

Answer 1

Well, he probably did that because diet sodas are not meant to be drank by kids because of the asparatame & other artificial sweeteners. So in that particular case, that Dad was right.

As for the rest, I say live & let live. Who else's opinions are the parents going to to give? Let other people do what they think is right when it comes to raising their kids as long as they aren't being abused. That's really the only time when anybody else should get involved.

Answer 2

I am going out on a limb here and making a guess that you are not a parent...
Even the most prepared and focused parents make a lot of mistakes raising their kids. Fortunately, kids are pretty resilient and most manage to make it out of childhood and become fairly normal adults in spite of it. In the grand scheme of life, it really won't make any difference if a father tells his child that a diet coke is yucky and gives her a regular coke instead. It just isn't that important and certainly not a defining factor in what type of person she will grow up to be. Personally, I don't know anyone who will eat and drink everything and it is pretty human to make comments about foods/beverages either in a positive or negative way. People's tastes for food and drink grows, changes, and matures throughout their lives. A child who hears dad say broccoli is yucky (that'd be me and my dad) can still grow up to really like broccoli (I like it a lot now, my dad still won't touch it). I've seen a few true picky brats in my day and simply saying, "oh, I don't like that" or "that's YUCKY" are pretty mild comments for a true picky brat. It's natural for kids to have some likes and dislikes similar to their parents and it is not always a a bad thing.

Answer 3

Well I don't know if you yourself are in fact a teenager or a parent but I think your perspective might be slightly biased by your own personal experience, which doesn't reflect the actual amount of people in the situation your are describing. For example, you mention a boy asking about his penis, because it is shocking therefore you notice it, you don't mention the hundreds of normal questions like, homework help, sibling issues, video game help, drawing advise, ect. Because they don't stand out. I agree that there are people out there who neglect their children, but the percentage of people who do this is much smaller than it appears to be, you just notice the bad ones because they are shocking. Also, this website is I believe, for 13+ or 14+, something like that? So as long as you're above the minimum age it should be fine, as I trust a significant amount of thought has gone into what the minimum age should be. Another point: I'm a teenager and I have to say that I, and pretty much every teenager I know go on the Internet for innocent things, like games, and Facebook, and yahoo answers. Final point: in my family we trust eachother, therefore my parents do not monitor what I do on the Internet, and I don't let them down by i don't know, watching porn or whatever. I guess you're right, well not about the wanting to sound smart but I typed this fast and I didn't answer yet so: probably because the Internet has a lot to offer.

Answer 4

Parents know their kids' tastes better than you think!

My daughter hates certain kinds of food and when the package doesn't state the obvious, then I do have to point out that she doesn't like it... duh!

Maybe that dad didn't feel like buying a whole can of Diet Coke that he knew his daughter would not like. Besides, if I bought every little thing my daughter asked for I'd be a bad parent as well as a poor one!

Edit: SINCE WHEN IS BEING PICKY BRATTY? Get over yourself. I'm sure there are plenty of things you don't like to eat and drink.

Answer 5

I completely agree. If a child watches their parents constantly pick apart their surroundings..the child will do the same. For example, If a mother and a daughter are watching AMNTM, or somethin of that nature, and the mother makes a comment like "she overwieght, fat, ect." the child will start to pick people apart. The same is when parents teach their children racisim. Children look up to their parents, and will emulate their behavior.

Answer 6

Did you ever think that they had let her try a diet drink in the past and she didn't like it? Therefore, they didn't want to waste good money on it when they knew the little girl wouldn't drink it.

Didn't think so.

Maybe some parent's jumping to conclusions rubs off on their children.

Answer 7

My sister does the same thing with her kids. She hates every vegetable grown! If she doesn't eat onions, then her kids don't like onions, except when they are with me! They eat all kinds of vegetables when they are with me. (smile)

I believe in cooking dinner and making everyone try one bite. If they don't like it, don't eat it. I don't force feed them to eat something they are gagging on.

I could not even identify or cook asparagus, because we did not have it growing up. Because, my parents hated it! Unfortunately, I hate it. But, my kids LOVE it! I cook it for them after my husband taught me and it is a regular side dish at our house.

Answer 8

Well, you would think so, wouldn't you. Some people are just too immature to be raising kids. Maybe this wasn't the dad but an older brother or something, we can hope. The kids learn what we teach them consciously and what we teach them subconsciously. That's why you always have to be aware of yourself and your actions and what you say; they are little sponges!

Answer 9

i never do that to my daughter unless i know for a fact its something she doesnt like i explain to her "you didnt like it before but would you like to try it again?" if she wants to i leave it up to her ..when she wants something that i think she is not going to eat like something really sour or fishy ect..i have her try a small bite first before i give her something shes just going to waste if she eats it great if she spits it out then thats okay too....thats just how i do it not everyone is the same

Answer 10

Everyone has preferences. You can't help if your kids emulate that.