'Dinner is cancelled because it's the worst thing about parenting'

"When I was single, I microwaved a Lamb Rogan Josh every day and it was amazing, every single time."

Mums from all over the world have united to lament what I called  “The worst thing about parenting.”

 

In a TikTok that unexpectedly blew up, I said that dinner needs to be cancelled.

"I have zero interest in sitting at the table for a meal, I don't want to cook it, I don't want to think about what we're having, and I don't want to discuss it."

Because what I've found is  that after all the planning, shopping and preparation, my family don’t even like what I serve.

“I would rather sit on the couch with a packet of crisps!” I proclaimed.

As it turns out, the 3k comments showed me I'm far from alone in feeling this way. 

Want to join the family? Sign up to our Kidspot newsletter for more stories like this. 

RELATED: I give my kids Nutella for breakfast because fed is best

"Am I really expected to think about dinner every day forever?"

In the clip, I talked about how I find it exhausting to ask everyone what they feel like. 

"I just ate dinner yesterday; am I really expected to think about it again today and forever?"

I also recalled, "When I was single with no kids, I just ate a frozen lamb rogan josh every day - and every single day it tasted good.

"Now, I'm responsible for everyone's dinner.... it's wicked and unspeakable, and I've now declared dinner is cancelled."

I thought I was just having a rant but as it turned out, it was one of the most relatable topics I've thought of.

“Did we just become best friends? I thought I was the only person who felt this way,” is the resounding sentiment on the clip.

Here I was thinking what I was saying was controversial, but no, I’m not alone. Mums are over it.

We don’t want to ‘use AI to plan a weeks' worth of meals and a corresponding shopping list’ as one go getting Mum suggested.

We don’t to force our children to eat foods they don’t like, we don’t want to coax our family into breaking bread together when we’d all rather rot on the couch watching Bluey.

Dinner is cancelled! Image: Angus the Label/TikTok

RELATED: My husband fed the kids the worst breakfast

"Mums aren't getting what they want to eat"

The kicker is here as well, that Mums don’t want to eat what we don’t like! We’re constantly putting everyone else first and trying to whip up meals that will please everyone.

But what if we don’t like it, surely our taste buds get a look in? Apparently not.

One troll told me: “It’s not about you and you shouldn’t have had kids if you don’t want to eat with them." That's a bit dramatic.

 Take it easy, sir, the children will survive. Thankfully there’s two other structured meals each day and they happen every day of the year.

‘Don’t want to eat with them’, please. They literally ate FROM ME for a significant part of their lives. We’re spending plenty of time together.

Sure I agree that family meals teach manners and give us much needed connection in a disconnected world. A chance to talk about our favourite parts of the day and share gratitude.

But children are people too, and they don’t always want to be forced into connection either.

Besides, who’s cleaning up after all this? Cos that’s a job that never gets volunteers.

Why is it that dinner has become this yardstick for measuring a mother's worth? Does it really need to be this symbol for whether or not your family is connected?

(Side note: Maybe we would all be happier if it was still $10 but those days are behind us.)

So dinner is cancelled, and everyone eats whatever they like. You can sit wherever you like. You can talk or stare vacantly out the window.

Perfection.

Originally published as 'Dinner is cancelled because it's the worst thing about parenting'