12 year old daughter refuses to eat what her father 'cooked', asks permission to make something else but the father doesn't allow it: "He told me that I would sit at that table until I finished eating"

Author image for Giuliana Tiscioni
Giuliana Tiscioni • Writer
Sep 8, 2026 9:45 AM EDT

Should parents let their children eat whatever they want? 

As a general rule, the answer is no. Children can be really picky eaters, and if parents let them eat only the things they like, they will end up eating only candy and McDonald's. So yes, many times parents find themselves telling their children to eat their vegetables and fruits so they can have a healthy and balanced diet. We don't agree with forcing them to eat when they're not hungry, but part of the parents' job is to make sure their kids are well-fed and nurtured. Yet, in some cases, it can be alright to let the kid eat something else if they don't like what the rest of the family is having, especially if it is a one-time thing and not a regular occurrence. 

In this case, a woman tells an anecdote that happened when she was 12 years old. Her mother had gone to work and left dinner ready for her father to give to her and her siblings, but the father apparently was too lazy to do that. He chose to give his children some canned spaghetti, which his daughter didn't like at all. She asked the dad if she could just make herself a PBandJ sandwich, and then clean up after herself and the others, but the dad said no. he told he she couldn't leave the table until she finished eating what he had "made." So she did. She stayed there. Alone. For Hours, until her mother came back and found her there. She got so annoyed at the situation and her husband that it was the last time he ever tried to tell his daughter that she had to stay put at that table. 

We can understand when parents tell their children to stay at the table and finish a meal. But in this case, it was simply ridiculous for the father to do that. The mother had already left dinner ready, and all he had to do was give it to her; he was too lazy to do that. He actively chose to give his daughter something she disliked, which wasn't even healthy, and didn't even let her prepare something else for herself! It's laziness taken to an extreme. 

If you had been the mother, what would you have done about it? 

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  • Don't move? Ok.

    This happened over 30 years ago when I was about 12, but it came up recently as some petty malicious compliance I did as a kid and I thought I'd share.
    via VespertineStars
  • At this time my mom had gone back to school to become a nurse and it was usually a toss up if I was going to babysit my younger
    via VespertineStars
  • siblings, or my grandmother would come watch us, or my dad would be there when he wasn't working.
    via VespertineStars
  • I wasn't a very picky eater as a kid but I have never liked spaghetti- o's. I can't stand the smell or the taste. My dad, on the other hand,
    via VespertineStars
  • could eat them all the time. Even though my mom had left something pretty easy to pop in the oven and feed us, my dad decided that warming up some
    via VespertineStars
  • spaghetti-o's would be easier; not just for him to make but to clean up afterward too. And, tbh, fair. My brother and sister liked them too, so it was easier.
    via VespertineStars
  • CALCUM LET WT 4202 (4030) 8 Healthy Kids Entree 30% Calcium Per Serving 20% of Daily Vegetables 0 sof Gra Trans Serving THIS PRODUCT CONTAINS 30% OF THE DAILY VALUE OF 1 CUP SERVING OUR REGULAR PRODUCT CONTAINS VALUE OF CALCIUM PERT t1 SERVING OF CANNED PASTA-RE (20% DAILY RECOMMENDATION The 2 for Americansing READY IN 3 MINUTES! on HIGH 11/2 to 2 minutes Care is approximate. Heat, covered in me microwave 1 minute, then stir STOVE: Heat, stirring occasionally MICROWAVE: Microwave ovens vary me P
    via Thomson200

    A can of SpaghettiOs.

    Image for illustrative purposes.

  • My sister and brother had no problem with it and ate it just fine. I told him I didn't like it and said I would just make a pb&j instead
    via VespertineStars
  • and clean up after myself. That did not go over well and he insisted I eat what he made. I tried, because I really didn't want to argue with
    via VespertineStars
  • my dad or be a brat, but I gagged at the taste. I tried to compromise, I'd make myself a pb&j and I would take care of all of the cleanup after dinner.
    via VespertineStars
  • Nope. Unacceptable.
    via VespertineStars
  • So, he told me that I would sit at that table until I finished eating. And I did. It got dark, I sat there with a bowl full of spaghetti-o's in
    via VespertineStars
  • front of me, completely untouched. I didn't get up to turn on the light, I didn't get up to get
    via VespertineStars
  • anything to drink, I just sat there and let my mind wander until my mom got home.
    via VespertineStars
  • Mom gets home from school later at night. It was ages ago, but it was definitely well into darkness at this point, so I'm thinking
    via VespertineStars
  • somewhere around 8 or 9pm because I sort of remember on nights she had school that late she
    via VespertineStars
  • came home just in time to say good night to us kids. So, I had been sitting there a good 3-4 hours at this point.
    via VespertineStars
  • "Stars?" she asks me. "Why are you sitting here in the dark?" "Dad told me I couldn't leave the table until I was done eating. I don't like spaghetti-o's, so I didn't leave the table because I didn't eat."
    via VespertineStars
  • Cheezburger Image 10662141952
    via Evgeniy Alyoshin for Unsplash+

    12-year-old girl refusing to eat and staying at the table. 

    Model portrayal.

  • She was so annoyed. She also refuses to eat spaghetti-o's because they're disgusting and she had left dinner already
    via VespertineStars
  • prepared for Dad to give us. That was the first and last time my dad ever tried telling me I couldn't leave the table until I ate. I'm a
    via VespertineStars
  • very, very stubborn person and I will do my best to follow that to the letter. 30+ years later and I'm still the reigning queen of petty in my family.
    via VespertineStars

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cooking mother siblings reddit story petty revenge dad dinner family dinner daughter Reddit mom Father
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