Cowed by parental disapproval and shame, I'd battle my way through terrible turnip, ghastly cabbage and awful sausage stew (well, it was more the veggies than the meat).
Being forced to eat such unappetising veggies, I really lost interest in them and, even today, I won't touch a turnip - unless it's to carve a lantern (traditionalist me lol).
Years/decades later, guess what? There are still starving in Africa, regardless of whether I ate my food or not.
So, coming from a background of "as little food waste as possible" (my parents were raised during the rationing years of WW2), I now find myself having to buy 12 pints of milk a week because dad'll make himself a drink, sip 1/3 of it, put the cup down & walk away and forget. He'll then make himself another drink, and so on. The unconsumed drinks will them be poured down the sink because it doesn't taste right reheated. I used to buy 6 pints of milk a week.
Last night dad wanted minced beef cobbler (basically mince beef, various veggies and dumplings). I went to clear the table and he'd polished off the meat & veggies but not the dumpling. I asked if he wanted me to put it in the fridge for later.
"The dumpling is made of wheat." He informs me. Aye, I know this, this is why it's a dish I cannot eat. "Wheat breaks down in the body to sugar." Aye, well, kinda, yes. "I need to control my sugar better, so I won't be eating wheat."
Actually, his sugar is fine, it's balancing out at the levels the diabetic specialists want so . . .
OK, his choice not to eat wheat - so, at supper time, to see him munching on down on a chocolate digestive biscuit followed by a slice of bread with butter and jam, just about gave me a bout of hysterical laughter.
Just about. I'm controlled enough not to say anything, or point out the inconsistencies, but it does make me smile and shake my head from time to time.
Then there's mum. I'll go up stairs about 4:20 of an afternoon and ask her what she wants for tea. Ok, so she is severely limited in what she can eat because of her teeth and gums, but there's still quite a few things. The usual litany will be "what do you have to offer" and we'll go through the same list as the day before and the day before that and the day before that. She'll then, usually say, "I don't care just bring me something". Usually this is accepted when presented and she munches away quite happily. Other days, no matter what is presented, it will be refused and the food will, usually, be wasted.
So, the paradox of parents - they really do become like children but it's really hard to deal with, until you get your head around it all. Getting around the childhood conditioning of listening to your parents and doing what your told, doesn't work when it comes to caring and providing for them.
I know, some folks reading this will have lost their parents and will find it hard to understand why I'd write about them in such an apparently negative light. But this is the life I have.
Am I glad still have them around? Yes and no, if I am perfectly honest: but the diatribe around that is a completely different subject.
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