When kids stay with grandparents…

Oh my goodness, we have the same sensitivities here too. It took a while for my Dad to understand. He makes us dinner every Sunday. He would think that a little won’t hurt or if we don’t know it’s in there, it won’t affect us. But after a while, he go used to it. Recently he’d been putting curry in something and not telling us, and some of the kids can’t have peppers. So I finally got him to admit what it was and he said he was afraid we wouldn’t eat it if we knew. I told him nicely that I think people have the right to know what’s in their food.

I always provide food for my kids wherever they go, and I think people appreciate it. My parents have even started to say to bring something the kids can eat. I would take all the food they’re going to need and tell them that you didn’t want them to worry about it so you brought it.

Also, how old are your kids? If anyone tried to give my kids anything they couldn’t have they would never eat it anyway. They are all old enough to realize that it makes them feel and act terrible. They are 7, 9, and 11. But we have been dealing with it for years. I’m not sure they remember what things taste like that we’ve had to cut out.

Good luck and I hope you have a great weekend!

You know I was thinking about one more thing. I remember sincerely telling our parents that our kids are so much happier and comfortable when we eat the way we do. I told them that I was amazed at the difference. It wasn’t like I was saying I knew better than them. I really was amazed, and I shared that with them in a sincere way. 

Just another thought.

I didn’t read the other posts.  But we have this issue as well.  In fact, when I take food she will sometimes not give it to him.  (We had a huge argument over this and considered not allowing them to spend time there (which they don’t very often anyway.)  What I ended up doing was sending a written down meal plan for each meal, snack and day and all the food, pre-made, for my son to eat.  I told him that he was not to vary from it or eat anything not on the list.  I felt bad for a little bit but then I realized that I was only protecting my son and she was the one being rude by making it hard for him to follow his diet.

I hope this helps.

We have this problem as well.  My parents are pretty good about sticking to the “rules” so I don’t worry about the occasional things that break it.  For my MIL, what helps the most is giving her a list of the things they can eat instead of things they can’t.  I make sure it’s includes easy, kid-friendly things and some “fun” things, because that’s where she gets upset is that she feels our food choices are not fun.  For example, she buys them Go-gurt, well now there’s Simply Go-gurt, which still may not be ideal, but doesn’t have any artificial colors, flavors, HFCS, etc.  So, I just ask her to make sure it’s the Simply Go-gurt.  She also loves to have hot dog roasts with them, but we typically don’t do hot dogs.  Well, I found some by Coleman that are uncured, msg free and so forth that are occasional treats so I tell her about those or bring them to her.  She would get offended if I brought too much food, but I figure a few things help.  The biggest problem with have with her is actually with drinks, so I usually reiterate only milk and water several times.  My kids don’t stay with her her much so I try not to worry about it too much, but it is frustrating to get them back and have to basically detox them.