I was home from the grocery store for less than an hour when I noticed Tate, his mouth stuffed full of newly purchased, thinly sliced ham.
“Tate, there better be enough of that ham left for the kids’ lunches this week,” I said in my well-practiced irritated voice.
His face registered shock and fear as both of our eyes looked down upon a nearly empty package of just purchased honey cured ham.
“TATE! I JUST bought that! It was supposed to last the WHOLE week!”
End scene.
Replace ham with any food that has been specially purchased for the children and has the potential to create MELTDOWNS! and HAVOC! if we were to run out. Despite my huffing and well-practiced irritated looks, Tate continues to leave ONE granola bar in the box, that of course I realize seconds after promising TWO children their own granola bar for snack. Or he’ll leave *just enough* orange juice for a flea. He’s even been known to eat the last two cheese sticks I’d promised our children for their snack.
“How was I supposed to know you were saving that?!” he’ll reply, while I stand behind him holding a fake knife, making stabbing motions.
Look. I know I’m being petty. Of course he has as much right as anyone in our family to eat. Poor wittle Tate, I don’t want him to go hungwy!
I just want him to be able to read my mind and realize that I have plans for certain foods and that his eating said foods will make me want rip out his toenails.
Headless Mom
Twitter: HeadlessMom
November 2, 2009 at 12:53 am
No, you’re not petty. He needs to answer you when you ask what he wants at the store. (You do ask, right?)
No one answers me, either.
Headless Mom´s last blog ..It’s November Again?
Twenty Four At Heart
November 2, 2009 at 12:53 am
Maybe buy bigger quantities …?
Or put some aside in a lockbox?
Twenty Four At Heart´s last blog ..In Honor of Halloween
Melessa
November 2, 2009 at 1:45 am
That happens here all the time!
Melessa´s last blog ..Last-Minute Entry
Sarah
November 2, 2009 at 2:36 am
Oh….so it’s not just my husband?
Ugh. Men. They always seem to forget to check with us before touching a single item in the kitchen…
Sarah´s last blog ..The Blessing
Marylin
November 2, 2009 at 3:02 am
It’s when I read things like this I’m happy I’m on my own now… no one to mess things up but me!
Marylin´s last blog ..NaBloPoMo’in it up.
Krista
Twitter: marriedlife
November 2, 2009 at 3:06 am
I wouldn’t call that petty… does he have no clue what your children typically eat? And when he thinks that would make a good snack think maybe it would be a wise decision to ask first? Sheesh!
I think I agree with the lockbox idea!
Ness @Drovers Run
November 2, 2009 at 4:26 am
You’re NOT being petty. WHY DO MEN ALWAYS DO THIS!??
They would be the first to complain (after finishing the ham/or whatever else they ate) that there is nothing in the fridge, and couldn’t you do the shopping better.
UGH!
Ness @Drovers Run´s last blog ..Big Plans: Let’s see if it happens!?
Mia, childcare lady
Twitter: childcaresource
November 2, 2009 at 5:11 am
Silly boy.
)
maybe if you have a spot in the pantry and the fridge for ‘this is stuff for the kids – don’t touch’?
I dunno – my man doesn’t do that, but nor does he snack and – well, he does all the cooking, so he knows what everything is for…
(yes, yes, I know exactly how lucky i am
Joe @ IrrationalDad
November 2, 2009 at 6:17 am
I got in trouble last week because I ate the tub of vanilla frosting (yeah, seriously) that wife was saving to decorate cupcakes for a momsquad thingamaboo.
HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW?!?! She knows I’ve got an addiction to sugar!!
Joe @ IrrationalDad´s last blog ..Trick or Treating
deadale
November 2, 2009 at 6:38 am
poor tate that you have to scare him with a fake knife. well yeah, it’s fake but the thought that you can harm to that length just for food is not cool..
i think you could talk to him and explain things…
kids love to eat and that’s normal, scaring him isn’t…
deadale´s last blog ..You can tell you and your partner’s LOVE is DEEP when…
Ashlie- Mommycosm
November 2, 2009 at 7:30 am
Yeah, so, I make my husband replace said food when he eats it so that the kids have lunches and I am not the one stuck running around at the last second. It works most of the time…he often asks before finishing off cold cuts or whatnot.
Ashlie- Mommycosm´s last blog ..Send your Halloween candy to troops overseas
rabbi's wife
November 2, 2009 at 8:16 am
Oh Hallelujah! I really thought this behavior was unique to my husband!
You’re not being petty. It’s hard to grocery shop, especially with two munchkins dogging your steps. I have sort of solved his problem by buying husband-specific nosh (snacks). If he has his own stuff, he’s less likely to graze. I buy it even if he doesn’t ask. I just have to have it. It saves my sanity and also keeps me from having to go out at 10 pm looking for something for him to eat instead of the last of my cheese sticks!
rabbi’s wife´s last blog ..Living with terrorism.
Corinne
November 2, 2009 at 8:37 am
We have the same problem in our house. Or him finishing it up without telling me so I go to give a promised snack (like your granola bar example) and it’s not there. And it’s terrible…
Corinne´s last blog ..Together, whether we always like it or not
ClassyFabSarah
Twitter: ClassyFabSarah
November 2, 2009 at 8:56 am
I think men have a genetic quirk that makes them only want to eat the foods that are destined for other places.
It’s a gift. From hell.
ClassyFabSarah´s last blog ..A Serious Post About Shopping
Shannon
November 2, 2009 at 9:01 am
I’m with ya! The hubby is always eating stuff I buy for my one school child’s snacks and he KNOWS that’s what I buy them for. I keep the pre-packaged stuff for school because it’s easier. But that doesn’t seem to stop him from digging in, even though I buy him bags of Oreos that I very rarely give to the kids. I feel your pain!
Shannon´s last blog ..Coming Home
Amy
November 2, 2009 at 9:58 am
My husband does the same thing. Money is very tight and I barely have enough left to run to the store to buy another gallon of milk, let alone buy some more cheese sticks or lunch meat or chips.
I finally set aside a certain shelf in a certain cabinet and told him that the food on that shelf is off limits because it’s for the kids lunches.
That worked! For about a week. Then I went in to find he’d eaten all of the Pringles (special buy..they were on sale) minus about 3 chips. He ate nearly a pound of lunch meat – I keep that for my lunches since the boys prefer PB&J – but left ONE slice. Because, you know, he wanted to be thoughtful so I’d have something for lunch the next day. Mind you, he eats out every single day for lunch so of course he doesn’t stop to think that anyone else may actually have to MAKE their own lunch. Not that we can afford his eating out but that’s another soap box.
And of course the drinking of all but about one swallow of milk or whatever other drink.
Why is that men tend to be so thoughtless and inconsiderate when it comes to this stuff? It really bugs me, especially when it affects what I can give my kids for their school lunches.
Michelle Smiles
November 2, 2009 at 10:18 am
There are a few items (only a few) that my hubby knows are for the kids. He isn’t allowed to have ANY. LOL I’m just that mean. He’s allowed to take leftovers for his lunch – those are entirely his unless there is a lot left and he makes up a container and tells me it is for me. But the other snack/lunch fixings are for the kids (and sometimes me).
Michelle Smiles´s last blog ..Roar
rimarama
November 2, 2009 at 10:30 am
After the great pasta eating debacle of 2008, during which my husband ate four portions of pasta I was saving for that evening’s dinner FOR BREAKFAST, I started labeling stuff in our fridge with DO NOT EAT signs. Sometimes it works!
rimarama´s last blog ..Ghost and the Mermaid
mep
November 2, 2009 at 11:01 am
First off, congratulations to you that your kids will eat lunch meat sandwiches. No such luck around here.
I do get frustrated when I buy cold cuts for me and the hubby though. I think deli meat is kind of expensive, and I always end up annoyed that my husband puts like half a pound of ham on one sandwich. Urgh.
mep´s last blog ..Anti-Fever Fervor
Knot
November 2, 2009 at 11:04 am
It’s a well established fact that Knot doesn’t share food. Much like Joey from friends. As such, we work around that. I don’t eat “their” food and they don’t eat mine. I share with Knot Minor though. She can’t drive or buy food.
Knot´s last blog ..Thanksgiving #2
Amy
November 2, 2009 at 11:34 am
Wow. I can’t imagine telling my husband not to eat food in his own home. I had no idea that other wives had a problem with this.
My kids aren’t to the age, yet, where we’re packing lunches, but I do have to have stuff on-hand for the babysitter to feed them. This has honestly never been a problem here. I just make sure I have a couple of different options on hand at all times.
I think if it were a problem in our house, though, I would make the kids lunches up in advance (maybe right after getting home from the store) for 3 days or so (because after that, a cold meat sandwich is going to be nasty) and put them in bags in the fridge with the kids’ names on them. That way he’d know without asking that it was already spoken for.
And, bonus, then you’ve got the lunches made for the next couple days!
Amy´s last blog ..I Was Wrong
Domestic Extraordinaire
Twitter: DExtraordinaire
November 2, 2009 at 11:50 am
my husband is the exact opposite, he is always afraid that he is eating something that I have special plans for. I think because of growing up in a house that had no food or the food was stuff people left on our porch, I always have an over abundance of everything so we don’t starve.
now the girls are another story-they eat everything not nailed down….literally.
Domestic Extraordinaire´s last blog ..Weekly Winners-The Parade Edition
Miss
November 2, 2009 at 12:55 pm
Sounds like someone needs his own mini fridge. Or a basket somewhere with Tate approved snacks only on it. Anything to avoid toddler meltdowns!!
Miss´s last blog ..Weekly Winners [Oct25/Oct31]
Jennifer
Twitter: playgroupie
November 2, 2009 at 3:09 pm
Amy, I wouldn’t have really cared (as much) except that my kids can’t take PB to school due to other kids’ allergies, so they HAVE to eat lunch meat. He knows this, too!
Men are kinda frustrating, huh?
Kat
November 2, 2009 at 3:17 pm
Oh I feel you sister! My hubby does this all the time with the kids snacks. I try and but snacks that will last thru the week for lunches and he munches away on them while I’m not looking.
Kat´s last blog ..not me monday – she strikes again!
Devilish Southern Belle
November 2, 2009 at 3:27 pm
I don’t know if I’d call it petty….it’s pretty rude eat so much of something that there isn’t enough for anyone, let alone everyone, else. It must be a man thing. My husband will do it, too.
Burgh Baby
November 2, 2009 at 4:09 pm
Dude, I had to create an Alexis Box in both the fridge and the pantry. Mine touches anything in either box, IT’S ON. I will pour his beer down the drain, oh yes I will. I’m willing to go all sorts of crazy if I never again have to deal with a kid who wants Pink Cereal and is denied because a certain someone ate it all and didn’t mention it. NEVER AGAIN.
(Sorry. I get a leeedle bit emotional when people bring up spouses eating kid food.)
Burgh Baby´s last blog ..Christmas Crazy for Kids
Connie @ Young and Relentless
Twitter: connieaw
November 2, 2009 at 8:34 pm
I solved this little problem by withholding sex for a month.
It’s also helpful that my engineer husband can’t see anything that isn’t right in front of his face so if I don’t want him to eat something I hide it behind the milk.
Connie @ Young and Relentless´s last blog ..I Don’t Like Being Sad
Jennifer
Twitter: playgroupie
November 2, 2009 at 8:37 pm
Connie YOU are a genius! Tate is an engineer, too…why didn’t I think of this myself???
tracey
November 2, 2009 at 8:45 pm
You know, this is NOT a good day for me to read this. I am in a bitchy mood and it just IRKS THE HELL out of me that most men (not ALL) don’t think of the kids first, like mothers tend to do.
I have to freaking HIDE THE FOOD in our house, lest it be eaten by my husband. God forbid a box of snacks be in the pantry! It must be there to be eaten in one sitting! Cereal? A late night snack! Never mind the fact that it is the ONLY THING available for breakfast and that I have bought groceries with the change jar for the last 6 months.
Ok. I’m sufficiently pissed. Who else wants a piece of me?!?
tracey´s last blog ..Drinking Shiraz with a Walrus…
Texan Mama
Twitter: TexMama
November 3, 2009 at 1:15 am
I think you need to use his imported, expensive beer as toilet cleaner. Tell him the carbonation and barley are good for getting out his skid marks on the bowl. When he looks at you incredulously, tell him that he’ll feel better after he eats a granola bar.
Texan Mama´s last blog ..I {heart} Mondays
knoxvillepixie
November 3, 2009 at 9:59 am
I think our husbands may be related. Either that or there’s something in our area water that makes men selfish gluttonous pigs…Not sure which.
Say What?
November 3, 2009 at 3:15 pm
I’m glad to know that my house is not the only house that this happens in.
What does DH eat? Stuff for school lunches; stuff I was planning on using for dinner; leaves the 1″ of milk in the carton etc.
On the flip side, he will request that I purchase cold cuts for him to take for lunch, so I do, then it will be a week of “Oh, we ended up going out to lunch today, and tomorrow I am getting taken out to lunch by xxxx” So what happens to all the cold cuts?
GRRRRR
Nicki
November 6, 2009 at 3:11 pm
Yeah, I know how you feel… I get mad at Monkeyboy for that kind of thing! Like, I’ll buy a box of vanilla wafers, meaning to dole them out to the little kids as afterschool snacks over the course of a month or so… and Monkeyboy will take the whole box up to his room and devour it in one hour! So, Tate is kinda like a twelve-year-old boy, I suppose! What I’ve done is took a big bowl and filled it with afterschool snacks, put nilla wafers and crackers and stuff into individual little zip lock bags, and everyone is allowed to take ONE per sitting! No eating a whole box! If you want Nilla wafers, you can take a zmall ziplock bag of them! It also makes it easier to see when we’re out of things like granola bars and fruit snacks and stuff.
Nicki´s last blog ..I’ve Created A Monster! (Actually, Three Monsters…)