Question for moms of older kids

[Sasha]

We are having a surprise 60th birthday party for my MIL this weekend at a nicer restaurant. DH, BIL/SIL and I are paying for the party. My 17.5 month old DD will be there, as will my 3 and 6 year old nieces. I pre-ordered off the child's menu for my DD and told my SIL she could do the same for her DDs. SIL said she her girls would just eat off the menu we are planning and then if they don't like it, order off the children's menu at the party. We are paying over $40pp for the adult menu, that seems like a bit much for us to pay for those ages, when I am pretty darn sure they are not going to eat what we have planned (Tapas? BBQ Shrimp? Jamacian Chicken? Trust me, the 3yr old isn't eating it) Since they are paying for half, it's not my place to say anything to her, but I can't help but think to myself that if it were me, and I had the choice of a kids menu or the menu we've selected, I'd be ordering off the kids menu for a 6 and 3 year old. Would you want to pay over $80 for two kids to probably not eat the food, plus then have to pay for their additional kids menu meals too? Money is of no concern to my BIL & SIL, so maybe that is clouding my vision because it's more of an issue for me and DH, and this party is costing us a bundle!

[blondegirl]

My oldest DD is 7, and still orders from the kids menu (most of the time) when we go out to eat. I definately wouldn't want to pay $80 for meals they aren't going to eat, especially for a 3 yr old?? Now if mom knows it something they will like, that's a whole different story!

[Renrel]

At that price I guess it would give me pause, but in general my kid, also 3, eats lots of things you would not expect a 3 yr old to eat and likes to eat what we are eatting, or at least to have the option. Though to be truthfull he was better at age 2 than at age 3. He has happily, at times in his life, eatten blue cheese, tapanada and roasted duck. He has tasted sushi and lobster. He has eatten food just to prove us wrong when we told him he would not like them, though the ones that come to mind are more weird than adult - like uncook pasta and frozen pancakes. He will devour lox and liked the wine we let him have a sip of so much that now have to use grape juice for our religious wine ritual on Fridays since he will want to down the whole glass, not just the sip we would allow him. (He often requests wine with dinner, we serve him grape juice in a wine glass.) There can be melt downs over not having a meal like everyone elses, depending on the mood that day. That could also figure into your BIL/SIL thinking. That they would rather pay extra than deal with a possible fight at the party. So for us it might depend on the menu. If the food looked like things DS would tend to be willing to try and similiar to things he had liked, I might order it for him. If it was all things that have green vegtable touching them, I would have to say no. He is after all still a preschooler. :)

[Sasha]

I'll concede there is a chance the 6yr old may try the foods, but my guess for the 3 year old is that she will take one bite and then want mac & cheese. I guess I just feel like my SIL was being slightly inconsiderate about the price we are paying for her kids to taste the food, and then more than likely order something else that we have to pay for too. I realize she knows her children best, but at that price, it would give me pause too, especially when we are paying for the event as well. I mean, I know my 17 month old will eat the cheese off the tapas, might eat a bit of the chicken, but that doesn't mean I want to pay $40 for her to try it!

[blondegirl]

It's not just about what's being served, but also the size of the portion. Who would want to pay that much to have your child eat just a couple bites??

My children are great, adventurous eaters (though picky at times) because DH is a chef, and makes all kinds of wonderful things for us at home. But you have to put all things into perspective.

Like Renrel pointed out, this may be done to avoid a meltdown. Lord knows I do plenty of things with my toddler to avaid a publi meltdown!!

[Sasha]

I just wanted to give a quick update on what happened - when we got to the restaurant for the party, one of the first things SIL asks me is what the kids menu choices are. :rolleyes: She orders mac & cheese for both kids right off the bat. Yes, we ended up paying $80 for their adult meals as well. And when the 6-year old saw what we were eating, her exact words were "ewww." Needless to say, I was annoyed.

[firefly]

*ugh* how frustrating.

[SiValleySteph]

Well, that is frustrating in that case. If she knew her kids would want mac & cheese, why waste $80?

However, for us, the kids menu is generally a bust because my son does not eat chicken nuggets, mac & cheese, etc., and we don't want to encourage that type of food anyways.

He does enjoy eating what I order, such as chicken & mushrooms in a cream sauce which we had Friday night at a French restaurant.

I do order a fruit cup off the kids menu if they have one, though, and at this point, he does share our meals rather than have his own.

[MizLarner]

For my 7yo, I would order the kids meal, but my younger two won't eat enough to justify a whole child's meal for each. I would either have them eat off my plate, or split a child's meal between the two of them.