Mother Refuses to Cook Gluten-Free Foods as 17-Year-Old Allergic Son Keeps 'Cheat-Eating' Pizzas, Leading To a Glutenous Family Drama

Author image for Etai Eshet
Etai Eshet • Editor
Dec 21, 2024 1:00 PM EST

Teenagers will be teenagers, we've all been through the rebellious, confusing, and emotional phase that shapes much of our personalities. And while this hormone-fueled character-defining episode is important and can be looked at with nostalgia and reminiscence, some of the memories (and pictures) it's accompanied with can be pretty embarrassing for most of us (it's not just me right?). which leads us to this story from a mother to a 17-year-old who has taken to Reddit as her teenage son's behavior will probably be in the "memories we wish were erased" section of his legacy.

The mother posted the story on Reddit, seeking advice after he was recently diagnosed with a wheat allergy. Not for advice on gluten-free foods or dietary alternatives but for his blatant refusal to stop eating gluten. The teenager, who despite his mother's efforts to accommodate his needs, sneaks off to friend's houses to binge on pizzas and other highly glutenous delights, leading to some serious issues.

The more you get into this story and the depiction of the kid's behavior in several incidents that the mother describes it becomes pretty clear why she's asking Redditors if her decision to stop cooking gluten-free foods for him is a good one.

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  • 01
    He ate cake and pizza at a friend's. He's not 10 he's 17. I can't be with him everywhere and police every single thing he eats. He knows what wheat is and what to look for
    via EBlokhina
  • 02
    AITA for refusing to cook gluten free or take my near adult son out to eat?
    via Electronic-Code9834
  • 03
    My 17 year old son was diagnosed recently with a wheat allergy. He had been battling gut issues for a few months and we finally found that he can't have wheat. I immediately went into
    via Electronic-Code9834
  • 04
    research mode. I read labels learned all names for wheat bought hundreds of dollars of food/snacks for him to try. I took him to whole foods and organic markets for hundreds more. I
    via Electronic-Code9834
  • 05
    bought wheat alternative flours and began cooking gluten free. He still had digestive issues. So back to dr. Only issue wheat.
    via Electronic-Code9834
  • 06
    Come to find out he's spending his pay check at school on biscuits and gluten filled snacks. He goes to a friend's house and bam eats McDonald's and wheat
    via Electronic-Code9834
  • 07
    filled junk. The doc and I warned him that this is only mild- moderate but it can get worse. He actually came home with urticaria and hives last weekend.
    via Electronic-Code9834
  • 08
    He ate cake and pizza at a friend's. He's not 10 he's 17. I can't be with him everywhere and police every single thing he eats.He knows what wheat is and
    via Electronic-Code9834
  • 09
    what to look for we literally learned together. The school said they won't cut him off even with a dr note cause he's old enough to police himself. Tgey provide alternatives but he won't eat
    via Electronic-Code9834
  • 10
    them. He's stubborn. Tonight we went out to a gluten friendly restaurant and I got him a gluten free meal 26 dollars (ours average 15-18). I made sure he was good with the selction. He didn't eat it
    via Electronic-Code9834
  • 11
    but instead snuck off others plates and snuck bread. My MIL is an enabler(just a bit won't bother him 10 bites later) He stunk up the car on the way home and
    via Electronic-Code9834
  • 12
    tried to deny that he ate whest but the guy won't lie. He is wanting to stay home due to gut pain but I'm getting peeved cause he's causing it. Am I an awful mom that If he's going to
    via Electronic-Code9834
  • 13
    eat what he wants that I am just over making the effort and spending way extra money when he's not even following the diet (I have been begging, trying, and cooking GF for over 9 mos and
    via Electronic-Code9834
  • 14
    have spent thousands trying to find what even I feel taste pretty good alternative). I don't want to be a uncaring person but I feel like I'm wasting time and money that we don't really have when it makes no difference. AITA?
    via Electronic-Code9834
  • 15
    Reasonable-Sale8611 • 1d ago A hole Ent... Top 1% Comme... He's having trouble confronting his new, wheat-free life and is rebelling, more or less hoping that if he ignores the problem then it will go away. Teens making
    via Reasonable-Sale8611
  • 16
    dangerous choices around their allergy is probably not that uncommon. In a way, it's the most dangerous part of life in which to have an allergy. If your allergy is discovered as a young child, it's
    via Reasonable-Sale8611
  • 17
    just part of your normal, what you grow up with. If your allergy develops as an adult, you are mature enough to grieve your old way of life and settle into the new
    via Reasonable-Sale8611
  • 18
    way. If your allergy develops as a teen, it's the time of life when you have independence without maturity and when you are rebelling against everything.
    via Reasonable-Sale8611
  • 19
    I would give him some grace, in your own mind. In practice, you're mom (or dad) so you have to keep pushing. If you stop making his wheat-free meals, it just validates the idea that his allergy is not a big
    via Reasonable-Sale8611
  • 20
    deal. To me, it sounds like he needs therapy, i.e. someone to guide/nudge him toward a habit of safe choices, who doesn't have that combination of love and authority that a teen has with their mom, that makes them want to push all
    via Reasonable-Sale8611
  • 21
    your buttons and prove you wrong when you say they'll eventually have to behave like a responsible adult. I would also see if his allergist can talk to him and give him a more detailed explanation of why it is dangerous to do what he is doing.
    via Reasonable-Sale8611
  • 22
    xLovelnfinite • 2d ago • I'm Celiac, so I think I'm uniquely able to answer this. Honestly, I came into this post ready to flip out
    via xLoveInfinite
  • 23
    because my own family refuses to cook GF or even have anything GF for me. I always have to bring my own food, and my dad has even
    via xLoveInfinite
  • 24
    yelled at me to "shut up about your stupid Celiac, no one cares," when at a restaurant and I was asking about options and about CC.
    via xLoveInfinite
  • 25
    So yes. I was SO ready to say AH. But... NTA.
    via xLoveInfinite
  • 26
    He is putting himself through pain and gastro issues, and for what? A slice of pizza? I know what being glutened does - it's not pretty and it smells.
    via xLoveInfinite
  • 27
    He needs to buckle down and go strict with this diet. And GF food is SO EXPENSIVE! You're spending all of this money for him to wreck any progress you've tried to make? Nah.
    via xLoveInfinite
  • 28
    Tell him you're done, and when he's ready to take this seriously, he can talk to you. Honestly, I would tell him he's on his own for dinner.
    via xLoveInfinite

Tags

parents of teens teens family drama aita cooking pizza mother boys teenagers rebel family feud rebellious raising teens family food eating gluten free
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