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By Daniella Gray
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A mom has asked the internet if she is a bad parent for making dinners her kids don't like.
Rebecca Morgan, a trainee nutritionist, shared her approach to family dinners online—prioritizing cooking meals she enjoys, even when she knows her children may not eat them.
Morgan, based in London, UK, explained in a TikTok video that she and her 2 children eat the same dinner.
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"Would you think I'm a terrible mother if I said that sometimes I cook meals for my kids knowing full well that they won't eat them?" the 35-year-old said in her clip.
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Morgan, who left a career in film production to study nutrition after having children, told Newsweek that her approach is grounded in practicality and her passion for healthy eating.
She started cooking one meal for the whole family when her eldest son ("a fussy eater") was 15 months old, hoping to expose her children to a variety of foods and model positive eating habits.
"It also means that if a meal is rejected by my toddler, then at least the rest of the family are eating the meal, so it doesn't feel like a waste of time or a waste of food. This way of doing things has improved his eating but also changed my mindset around mealtimes," she said.
In her TikTok video, Morgan made Cajun-crusted salmon with potato wedges and homemade slaw, saying it was what she felt like eating that night.
"If I only cook things that I knew my 3-year-old would eat then we would basically live off cheesy pasta and Weetabix and that's not how I want to live my life," she added.
Predictably, Morgan's 3-year-old wasn't a fan of the zingy salmon supper, but the mom was prepared.
"I will always offer him food he likes. For example, a banana or some yogurt, and if he eats very little, then I will offer toast or cereal after the main meal," she said.
Morgan's clip has been viewed almost 60,000 times and received dozens of comments, many of whom have the same mindset as her.
"I can't plan according to a toddler's preferences, they change hourly," one user wrote. "They need to try a variety of food so totally agree," added another.
A third user shared that their mom used this technique with them. "I think if you see your mom eating something, eventually the kids will want to try new things too," they added.
Morgan also shared her strategy of planning weekly menus with a mix of meals. "I choose maybe 3 nights where the meal is considered a 'safe meal'. However, because his favorite foods are limited … I need to cook things that I know he won't like otherwise we would be eating the same thing on repeat," she said.
As she put in her video: "Sometimes, we got to be a bit selfish and look after number 1."
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