On more than one occasion, I have heard my husband say, "What do you want to eat?" on a Saturday afternoon, to Little Billy or Alexis in the kitchen.
If I hear this, I will run as fast as I can into the kitchen, step in front of my husband and say, "No, No, No ... you don't ask them, 'What do you want to eat?'" looking at my very confused husband like he has lost his mind. Then I will pull him aside to explain. "You have to offer them something. You can't give them the choice of ALL the foods in the whole world, for craps sake. Haven't you been watching how I do this all these years? You need to say something like, 'Do you want a peanut butter sandwich or a tuna fish sandwich?"
My husband doesn't seem to understand how long it has taken me to condition these children. I have had to impress upon him constantly that I will not stand by and let him undo all the habits I have successfully managed to change and control. And giving a choice between two specific sandwiches or maybe Spaghetti O's, is all my children expect to be offered. They are not given the choice of ALL the foods in the ENTIRE world!
If, for some reason, I do not manage to catch my husband before he has mindlessly spun this choice web, I have seen where he has been convinced to go to all the trouble of defrosting meat, forming it into a patty and grilling his boy a hamburger. And, I have to give him credit for taking the time to do this for his child, really, but ... I am torn between allowing him to do this sort of thing or correcting him on the way I think things should be done. Because I am the one ... who has to prepare these children most of their future meals, and I do not want them to expect that I am going to defrost meat, form it into a patty and grill them a burger ... every single lunch (I AM JUST NOT!) - I opt for ... setting my husband straight.
On the upside ... This is only one, of many reasons, these children like their father better than me ... and why I am completely convinced that ... I am smarter than him. The choice web - I avoid it at ALL COSTS!