Parent Upset After Wife Refuses To Eat The Deer Meat They Got And Tells Kids It's 'Bambi'

Getting children to eat is one of the biggest challenges faced by parents.

Especially if it's trying to get them to eat new and healthy foods.

As a result, parents often need to be very careful when describing the food they are serving their children.

As one dubious description could be all it takes for the child's plate to remain full all through dinner.

Redditor DentistTerrible8768 found what they thought was an economical and delicious way to save money on food.

Unfortunately, the original poster (OP)'s wife was less thrilled with this plan, even going on to make off-putting remarks about the food he was providing.

Remarks that were off-putting enough to permanently affect their children's appetite and cause the OP to lose their temper.

Wondering if they were out of line, the OP took to the subReddit "Am I The A**hole" (AITA), where they asked fellow Redditors:

"AITA for telling my wife she can work overtime for food if she refuses to eat deer meat?"

The OP explained why they simply had enough of their wife's commentary at the dinner table:

"As a lot of you know food is expensive right now."

"I was lucky enough to get a deer."

"I ground it up for ground meat."

"Basically when you cook it you just think it is normal ground meat, especially when you do recipes with spices like tacos."

"My issue is with me wife, we have two kids that are under 7."

"The oldest is fine eating it but my youngest hates it due to my wife."

"The first time I made some meatloaf with it my wife commented that it's Bambi."

"She doesn't hate the taste just when she knows its deer."

"I know this because she liked the tacos and then refused to eat it after my wife made another comment about Bambi."

"She was two tacos in already."

"My wife doesn't like to eat it but I would think she would see that this is to save money and the food is fine."

"That our kids need protein and meat is so expensive right now."

"I have talked to her before but she keeps doing it."

"I want my daughter to actually have some red meat in her diet since we can't afford to keep buying it."

"It came to a head today."

"I made some meat sauce and pasta."

"My youngest was already eating it and my wife came in and made a Bambi comment."

"She refused to eat the rest of her dinner."

"I had enough and told her I expect her to start working overtime for food since she stops people from eating the deer meat."

"We got into an argument about it and she thinks I am a huge jerk and disgusting for the deer meat."

"AITA?"

Fellow Redditors weighed in on where they believed the OP fell in this particular situation, by declaring:

• NTA – Not The A**hole
• YTA – You're The A**hole
• NAH – No A**holes Here
• ESH – Everyone Sucks Here

The Reddit community was somewhat divided as to whether or not the OP was the a**hole for clapping back at their wife.

Most agreed that the OP was simply trying to save money and provide for their family, and if the OP's wife didn't like the food they were providing, then they should try to earn a little extra money so they could afford more food.

"You are NTA."

"Your wife is welcome to think that venison is disgusting, but she needs to control her reactions and stop actively sabotaging your kids' reactions to it."

"Or, as you've suggested, find a way to provide an alternative on her own."- EndielXenon

"I'm going to set aside the economic issue here, which is totally valid in and of itself."

"Venison is delicious."

"A full carcass could feed your family meat for a season or more if properly butchered and stored for pennies on the dollar compared to store bought cuts."

"None of this is in question."

"The issue here seems to be the moral imperative of killing and eating a deer."

"Entire cultures, including nearly all of the western world, relied on deer (or other ruminants) hunting for the vast majority of human history in some degree."

"Domestication of cattle and goats shifts this into an industrial scale, but the animals are generally the same in intelligence and behavior."

"Your wife calling deer 'Bambi' as some sort of emotional/moral complaint is ridiculous."

"Cows, pigs, and chickens can be just as playful and friendly as any other creature."

"Unless your wife is not eating any meat, this is just deliberate sabotage for no purpose."

"Deer hunting is needed (at least in the US) to keep populations in line as we have eliminated their primary predators to such an extent that unmanaged deer populations can be ecologically devastating."

"Better we eat what we kill as part of wildlife management than kill and let it go to waste."

"The industrialization of the meat industry has done us few favors as a society, but the worst of it is somehow making the connection between living creature to food taboo."

"Your kids should understand where their food comes from, and appreciate the sacrifice made for our sustenance."

"NTA."- Encartrus

"NTA."

"Many posters aren't commenting on your actual request for judgment so here is mine."

"You're not the AH for telling your wife (and her children's mother) that she could work OT to buy the meat she wants on the table."

"Your frustration with her is evident."

"If your wife wants beef or other meat, she can stop whinging and provide it herself."

"Complaining about venison and behaving like it's a you problem instead of getting what she wants with her paycheck is AH behavior."- Sidneyreb

"NTA."

"Even if your wife refuses to eat the deer it is not fair that she makes those 'Bambi' comments and influences the youngest."

"Some people just do not know to show appreciation and take everything for granted."

"Your wife as well is setting a bad example with those types of comments."

"Food is food."

"Unless a person does not like the food shall not eat."

"But please allow others to enjoy the food."

"Referring the deer to venison adds an exotic touch and might help people enjoy better what they eat."- BreakingMeows

"Your wife is an a**hole for calling it bambi on front of young impressionable kids."

"They form ideas from the parents and this undermines your efforts to feed the family."

"You are doing what you can do feed family and your wife is doing sabotage."

"Id ask her to keep her slick comments to herself and come up with a plan."

"NTA."- BeeYehWoo

There were those, however, weren't entirely convinced that the deer meat was the only way the OP could economically provide food for their family, and their wife deserved to eat food she liked as well.

"The only way you'd not be the AH is if there is no food whatsoever you won't eat or, if there is, you plan to yourself also work overtime to pay for an alternatives."

"People are allowed to have food preferences."

"Even if you don't agree with their reason."

"Even if they happen to be your wife and children."

"If you're concerned about nutritional deficits, you can meet your kids' needs more affordably than meat anyway."

"Peanut butter, eggs, canned tuna, and beans aren't going to require a second job."- POAndrea

"With Chronic wasting disease in deer - I don't blame her."

"She is the smart one here."

"Plus most people have no clue how to make venison taste good."

"I hunt but I would not eat venison unless I have tested it."

"Cooking does not kill the prions."- lokis_construction

"YTA."

'Your wife doesn't have to like venison."

"A lot of people don't for whatever reason."

"You've completely cut out buying meat from your groceries, and it sounds like you eat meat every day, so you're having a good she dislikes every day."

"Telling her to work overtime for food that she likes absolutely makes you an AH."-Away_Negotiation_617

"We eat deer meat in my house and I definitely think YTA."

"Your wife shouldn't have to work overtime just because she doesn't want to eat deer meat."-New_Sprinkles_4073

"YTA."

"Do you typically eat a food item you don't like over and over again?"

"No."

"She doesn't like it, let her buy other food."

"If someone gave my husband a bag of crabs, he wouldn't say I have to eat them or work overtime."

"Like get over yourself. If 2 out of 4 are ok eating the meat then you are still saving money."

"If I was your wife I'd only buy and cook food you don't like for the rest of your life and tell you oh well work more to get what you prefer, so is this the hill you want to die on?"- Constant_Increase_17

It is rather confusing that a parent would discourage their child from eating something they clearly like, simply because they, themselves, don't like the food in question.

However, there are still affordable ways to get food on the table that pleases everyone.

One can only hope the OP and their wife reach a compromise that will ensure no one in their household goes to bed hungry.