Dad Is Proud of His Toddler For Shutting Down a Fry Offer at Red Robin
A 27-year-old single dad is sharing an unusual parenting win with the internet to bask in his pride for his toddler son and to address those who have told him he's a "bad dad" in the past. The unnamed dad, who goes by beekr427 on Reddit, started the story of his "successful fathering experience" by sharing something many parents can relate to: he does his best to balance his 3-year-old son's diet and teach him that things don't taste "bad," just different.
However, he has also experiences a phenomenon that many parents can't relate to in the slightest: his son prefers fruits and veggies to literally everything else, especially sweets.
Because of this preference, the toddler often goes for fruits and veggies first, opting out of the rest of his meal, so his dad has created a system that involves him eating what he likes least first to "fight the 'I don't like that' bullsh*t." One night at Red Robin with his son, the dad was given a sure sign that his lessons are actually rubbing off on his boy.
"Ordered him a grilled cheese sandwich with a side of carrots and water to drink," the dad wrote. "The looks I get from people are astonishing! They look at me like I'm depriving him of the very joy that life brings to us through varying degrees of sh*tty foods."
The employee taking their order offered the boy juice instead, but the dad held firm and said his son would be fine with water. They went to sit down and the same woman offered the boy apple slices as an appetizer, which the dad took away after a few bites with a statement his son is used to hearing: "OK, wait for your dinner."
"She brought out his sandwich and carrots and he dives for the carrots. I grab them and say, 'No, eat your grilled cheese first,' (which I knew was coming and is also standard practice: telling him to eat the thing he doesn't want first) and set his carrots with his apples. She comes by to make sure all is OK and sees the carrots and apples and says, 'Oh do you not like those (not even talking to me anymore)? Do you want oranges? Or some fries? Or does he like ranch? I can get ranch for his carrots.' And he says: 'No. I like those carrots and apples. I have to eat "samich" first. Then those ones.' I tell her, 'We're fine, we don't need any fries or ranch.' She looks confused, says OK, and leaves.
I'm 27 years old and people see such a young dad with a boy by himself and just assume I'm an idiot. Then they see a kid who picks fruits and vegetables over cake and ice cream. They ask why and I say it's because it's what I feed him all the time so he doesn't really like sweets and they say, 'You're such a bad Dad! Give him some sweets!' I know they're joking, but I can't f*cking win! So last night watching my 3-year-old tell this lady the what's what about how he and I organize his food AND happily submit to it, felt like I finally have someone who gets it!"