Cereal can be a serious business!
Some people don't appreciate their food being played with.
Especially if there's marshmallows in the mix.
Redditor Husbae7536 to discuss their experience and get some feedback, so naturally, they came to the "Am I The A**hole" (AITA) subreddit.
They asked:
"AITA FOR HIDING MY BREAKFAST CEREAL SO MY SON DOESN’T GIVE ANY?"
The Original Poster (OP) explained:
"So I understand, just by the title this post sounds like I’m the AH, but context is everything, so maybe let me explain and let’s make a decision first of all."
"I would say I know 100%."
"I am not the AH of this situation.'
"I’ve strictly written this just for validation."
"Before I begin, it should be noted that my son isn’t mine biologically.'
"I have been in his life since he was seven years old, and he’s 15 now."
"For all important things, I am his father."
"OK, now that that’s over, let’s get to the story.'
"I love cereal."
"I eat cereal for breakfast, lunch, and sometimes I eat cereal as a dessert."
"I like all the different types of variety."
"Because there’s always cereal at the house, my son eats it as well, which is allowed, I don’t really care."
"My problem is that one of my favorites is Lucky Charms."
"One day, I started to notice that there were way more cereal pieces in the cereal than there were marshmallows."
"I didn’t pay any attention to it at first, I just kind of brushed it off, but it started consistently happening, well, one day I noticed my son getting cereal."
"What he would do is he would pour a bowl of cereal, pick out all the marshmallows, and put the regular pieces back in the box."
"I asked him to stop doing it, and he said OK, but I caught him doing it again."
"So from now on, when I buy Lucky charms, I take them and hide them in the cabinet where he can’t see them."
"When he asked me why I don’t buy Lucky Charms anymore, I always make up some excuse and say, 'Oh, I saw these other cereals that I wanted more than those.'"
"The truth is, I just hid them because I don’t want him picking out all the marshmallows?"
"About a week after this, my wife caught me putting the cereal back in his hiding spot, and she asked me why I was putting it up there, and I told her the truth, that our son won’t stop picking the marshmallows out and leaving the regular pieces."
"It would be different if he would pour himself a bowl of syrup, eat the marshmallows, and throw the other piece away, but he doesn’t do that."
"He picks them out and puts them back in there for me to eat, so when I get cereal, I don’t give an even amount of marshmallows and regular pieces, and I didn’t want to eat my cereal that way. "
"She called me an a**hole for hiding cereal from my son."
The OP was left to wonder:
"I just looked at her like she was crazy and found a different hottest spot so am I an a**hole for hiding my cereal?"
Redditors shared their thoughts on this matter and weighed in on some options to the question, AITA:
- NTA – Not The A**hole
- YTA – You're The A**hole
- NAH – No A**holes Here
- ESH – Everyone Sucks Here
Many Redditors declared that OP was NOT the A**hole.
"This is fixed very easily: buy two boxes of Lucky Charms, one for your son and one for you."
"He can do whatever he wants with his, but he has to empty his box before you get him another one."
"If he throws it in the trash can, no more Lucky Charms for him." ~ Odd_Tea4945
"Is he having the bowl for breakfast?"
"Or like, an afternoon snack or whatever?"
"OP notes he eats cereal all day, so I wouldn't be surprised if the kid eats bowls of cereal at odd times too."
"Also, it sounds like he pours a bowl of the cereal and eats just the marshmallows out of it, so he isn't eating a full bowl of marshmallows, he's eating the same quantity of marshmallows he would eat if he just ate a normal bowl of the cereal... which would actually be less sugar than eating a regular bowl of the cereal, as the wheat bits are covered in a sugar coating as well..."
"But, yeah, the thing that surprised me about the story is that OP didn't mention it to his wife right away."
"Presumably, she could have helped keep an eye out and encouraged him to eat all the cereal or pick something different."
"The fact that his first reaction was to hide the cereal before talking to his wife was weird..."
"Because, as you noted, if the issue is he doesn't have appealing breakfast options, then that needs to be discussed and brainstormed, so whoever is doing the shopping can make sure they're getting things he likes and will eat."
"He's 15, so I expect he can make his own breakfast, but he's not driving himself to the store to buy food, so he still needs his parents to fill that side of the situation, so there are foods he wants to eat, that are good options for him, available when he wants them." ~ OrindaSarnia
"I agree with getting separate boxes, but it's clear the kid doesn't want to eat the non-marshmallow part, so there's no reason to condition the replacement box on him doing it."
"It seems the point is that OP wants to be able to enjoy his lucky charms in the cereal to marshmallow proportion intended by the manufacturer, so getting them in separate boxes achieves this regardless of whether the kid eats the crumbs of his own box." ~ LadyJusticeThe
"NTA. I wouldn’t want to eat cereal that someone pawed through with their grubby 15-year-old fingers, either, regardless of the boy taking all the best parts."
"You know it’s questionable if he washes his hands after the bathroom!"
"Wife can get him his own box if he can’t respect a simple request." ~ marla-M
"This is it."
"I hide some snacks from my almost 15-year-old stepson (have raised since age 3) because he doesn’t wash his hands."
"Have caught him countless times coming out of the bathroom without handwashing, and touching shared food without washing his hands first."
"Any white surfaces he touches (handrail, doors) start turning brown again within a couple of days of being cleaned."
"For over a decade, my teaching him personal hygiene has been ignored."
"I’m immunocompromised and pregnant, he understands this and doesn’t care."
"So he doesn’t get to share any of my (or the younger kids’) snacks."
"He can share with his dad, who doesn’t back me up and is clearly happy to get sick."
"NTA. Maybe consider getting him his own, as others have suggested, but also losing out on a treat because he can’t use common courtesy when sharing with others sounds like a natural consequence."
"He’s not 5, he’s 15." ~ SecretiveBerries
"Yep. I regularly hide special treats from my kids, and it’s no big deal."
"Honestly, I don’t usually even have to hide stuff because I just tell them it’s mine and they don’t take it without asking."
"I started buying m&ms ice cream sandwiches."
"My kids then noticed them and started asking to have one."
"They come in a 4 pack, so they’re gone fast."
"The solution?"
"We buy the 12-pack size now. "
"Or multiple small packs."
"It’s really just that simple." ~ graylinelady
"NTA... actions have consequences."
"Though I would suggest you tell your son why he no longer has access to Lucky Charms."
"So he can connect his action to the consequence." ~ Thayli11
"NTA. I don’t care as much about him only eating the marshmallows, but he’s touching the rest of the cereal with his bare hands and putting it back in the box?"
"That would be my argument."
"No one wants to eat something that’s been touched like that."
"And I’m sorry, but 15-year-old boys are not known for being the most hygienic 🤢." ~ Major_Zucchini5315
"NTA - you’ve not stopped him from eating all the cereal, and you tried to speak to him like a grown-up, but he didn’t listen and lied."
"The only other thing I could suggest is getting two boxes of Lucky Charms, and when his box is just cereal, and there’s no marshmallows, he gets politely informed that the box will be replaced with a new one once the cereal has been eaten." ~ AdvancedTax6712
"NTA. Personally, the cereal-to-marshmallow ratio isn’t what would have killed it for me."
"It was the picking out marshmallows and putting the cereal back."
"I have to assume he was using his hands, which probably haven’t been washed prior to this.
"The unsanitary nature of doing that would be enough for me to get a strong box with a lock and store my cereals in that." ~ Plastic-Ad-5171
"NTA, but it is a little weird you are lying to a 15-year-old rather than just telling him the truth that it’s rude he keeps picking out the marshmallows after you specifically asked him to stop, and it’s gross he’s then putting the cereal back in the box for you to eat." ~ MaroonFahrenheit
Reddit is with you, OP.
Hide your Charms!
Your son needs to learn to respect the cereal.
It's all magically delicious.
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