Daughter Expressed Her Disappointment All Throughout Dinner About Her Mother’s Choice of Restaurant
Patience and understanding are the keys to surviving parenthood. In every growth stage, your child will probably show different sides to them — which can either be endearing or a total headache. Primarily the stage of adolescence — where they figure out how to handle emotions while getting to know themselves. Parenting a teenager will require an even wider understanding. Most importantly, be less lenient when a foul attitude starts to show, but ensure that you don’t forget to make them feel heard.
For this reason, parenting can be truly challenging. There’s constant confusion between whether you should let the issue go and chalk it up to your child’s being a teenager or discipline them since the situation calls for it. Sometimes parents will go ask for advice from their loved ones or on the internet. One of the most used platforms for ranting, asking for advice, and sharing experiences is Reddit.
The social media platform is a place of discussion, and parenting is one of the most talked about topics. CrabLegsandPrime’s problem is one of those which received 5.6k comments. She explained the whole story of the conflict with her daughter in her post. Before the conflict, the family was delighted because CrabLegsandPrime’s daughters won a dance team competition. They all decided to eat out with their daughters’ grandparents as part of the celebration.
The only problem is that both of her daughters suggested different restaurants. Her 14-year-old daughter wanted to go to her favorite Mexican restaurant, while the 16-year-old preferred a seafood place. CrabLegsandPrime weighed out the options and ended up choosing the seafood restaurant. In her defense, even though the seafood restaurant was a bit pricey, it was a place they had never eaten at, which makes more sense since they are celebrating. The Mexican restaurant is one their family already usually eats at, making it not as appropriate for the event.
The 14-year-old daughter wasn’t very pleased with her mother’s choice and showed an upset attitude. “Younger daughter pouted throughout the meal. She picked at her steak. Older daughter was very happy and completely absorbed in the crab legs. My mom tried to talk to my younger daughter about the competition, but she wasn’t responsive. At the end of the meal, we were all stuffed except for youngest,” CrabLegsandPrime shared.
The grandparents tried to console and brighten up her mood by suggesting dessert, but the little girl couldn’t be appeased. After the celebration, the mother explained why she had to choose the seafood restaurant. “I explained that this was a rare opportunity and sometimes we need to let someone else have something nice. I told her I could have taken us to the Mexican restaurant this weekend. She said it’s not the same, because the restaurant we go to the night of the competition is special, and we went somewhere she didn’t like,” the mother wrote.
Her daughter’s pouty behavior continued for days but eventually changed when she asked her mother if they could go to the Mexican restaurant. To discipline her for her pouty behavior, the mother rejected her suggestion but told her they might go next week. Although the mother has a point in correcting her child’s behavior, the opinion of Reddit users was divided. Some people approved of the mother’s parenting style, while others questioned her.
Senna79 commented, “Being part of a family means sometimes (lots of times!) doing something because it’s what’s someone else really wants to do/try. And, as I seem to learn the hard way all too often, rewarding sulky/petulant behavior for the short-term victory always comes back to bite you as a parent.” The comment earned 8.6k upvotes and a long thread of replies.
On the other hand, some people had the same sentiment as EmpressJainaSolo. She wrote, “They both won the competition. They both were meant to be rewarded. Only one’s feelings were considered for the reward. You told your youngest you wanted to celebrate her and to pick a restaurant, then ignored her wants completely because you saw a chance to go somewhere you and your oldest wanted to try.” The act of invalidation was evident for the 1.5k people who upvoted the comment and agreed on the replies.
Parenting can be quite tricky and requires a person to be considerate to all of their kids. It’s essential to make decisions most justifiably. If you happen to be a parent with the same problem, you may want to join the discussion. Being a parent surely is the most challenging job, and everyone needs a helping hand when a manual for such situations does not exist.
