Childrens meals

For the record- I don't think there is anything wrong with giving kids a kids meal. At the bottom of the RSVP I would say "Children 12 and under will be served chicken fingers and French fries" or whatever the option is.

WELL DAMN, am I glad I am not inviting children!

Come the fuck on with the "children should be given the adult option". No, absolutely no freaking way. I am not a parent but I know quite a few parents who are particular about giving their kids junk and I have actually talked to them about these things and they all say the same thing. Their kids go to TONS of events where food that they would not normally feed them is going to be present - what are they going to do, bring them a side of broccoli and tell them know they cant eat the cake at a 6 year olds birthday party? No. You can teach your kids good habits while still allowing them to eat their halloween candy. A wedding is a special event, enjoy your chicken tenders! So unless your serving snickers bars for dinner and you have a child allergic to peanuts, chicken tenders and fries are fine. Fuck, I'd rather have that option at a wedding as an adult.

I think people are confusing age appropriate food for age appropriate portions and cost. A lot of people don't want their kids eating junk chicken fingers and fries. That is perfectly okay.

Meh. I don't want my kids eating chicken fingers and french fries regularly, but I wouldn't make a couple pay for my kids to barely eat an adult meal. I feel bad enough making them pay for my kids to barely eat a child's meal. For my family, they can have chicken fingers and french fries one night. It'll be fine.

I was that adventurous kid who loved to try new things too. Still do. That said, I would have eaten a kids meal without complaint or I would have gotten my butt spanked in private later. Even if the steak looked really good, I likely would have snarfed my chicken tenders and then asked for a bite of my mom's steak. In reality though, I was a KID and likely would have been so excited to be at a grownup party that I wouldn't have noticed.

Feeding kids a kids meal isn't tiering any more than feeding vegans a vegan meal is.

At my wedding the kids buffet will have options. Chicken fingers, pizza, mac and cheese and a vegetable. So every one of my the 9 kids will get a choice.. just not the adult option.

.....or maybe I'm turning my vegan guests into second class citizens by making sure they have an option that's not steak or seafood? The restaurant we're taking people to has WAY more non vegan entrees, they'll be limited to a couple of choices instead of a whole menu, egads! (In all seriousness, I'm going to reach out to all 3 of them and make sure one of the limited offerings works for them, but I'm NOT tiering my vegan guests by offering them fewer choices than anyone else, it's just the way it worked out)

I will not apologize for feeling strongly about proper hosting. It's easy to stand up for what you believe when the majority of the group is nodding along, but I'm not going to back down in the face of greater opposition.

The very most basic tenet of hosting people is to provide them with a positive experience. I firmly believe that all guests are entitled to equal treatment and that to do otherwise would be rude. This means no champagne/open bar for the wedding party only, this means no reserved tables for some while the rest of the guests scramble, this means no tables on the dance floor that get broken down later in the evening and leave some guests without seating, this means no cap on the open bar after which it converts to cash, and yes, this means no serving some guests a better meal than others.

It comes down to this: do you think any of your young guests would prefer a gourmet meal? If none would prefer it, it costs you nothing to offer. If some would indeed prefer it, by what rationale do you deny to some guests what is available to others?

@Orchids, if your vegan guests said they preferred the steak option, would you tell them no they are not allowed steak?

StPaul- Why would the VEGAN guests ask for the steak option to begin with?? Your comments are continuing to make even less since if that's possible.

I did not read the comments. As a caterer? We never gave little kids and option. They got either chicken fingers or mini hamburgers and fries.

The answer is easy; don't invite kids.

@Mariah, That's what one does when they don't have a leg to stand on lol

Orchids postulated that offering vegan items to a vegan guest was similar to restricting young guests to a kids' meal. I pointed out that these guests would not be disallowed steak if that was their choice, they are simply choosing not to elect the steak option. (If indeed there is a steak option; I don't know what Orchids is serving non-vegan guests.) Not the same at all.

No, I said that my vegan guests have fewer options than my non vegan guests. I don't consider the steak one of their options because my childhood friend who hasn't eaten animal products snice we were in middle school together is NOT considering it an option. So she will have a soup option and a pasta option and that's it, while other guests will have dozens to choose from.

After laughing my way through 8 pages of this ridiculous thread (where OP already got an answer) I seriously just can't with SPG's thought process.

In one of your previous posts about properly hosting you said, ".... this means no serving some guests a better meal than others."

Since when is chicken fingers not a better meal? especially for a 4 yr old?

Maybe someone SHOULD have given you chicken fingers as a child.

ETA- punctuation.

You may not be "considering it an option," but if she could choose to order it then it is actually an option.

Awesomesauce scenario:

"I will have the ________ [vegan shepherd's pie or steak or sea bass or whatever]"

"Sounds good, I'll mark you down on my spreadsheet!" (mental note of surprise that the option chosen was not the option expected)

Non-awesomesauce scenario:

"I will have the ________ [vegan shepherd's pie or steak or sea bass or whatever]"

"No, you can't have that one because you have to select [a vegan option/a kids' menu item] instead"

For Pete's sake, IF THAT KID AND/OR THEIR PARENTS THINK CHICKEN FINGERS ARE A BETTER OPTION FOR THEM, THAT IS WHAT THEY WILL ORDER! But if they prefer the same food as the rest of the guests, that should be their choice.

You do realize you're never going to convince any of us you're in the right, don't you?

Because ordering a $200 meal for a 6yo will never be anything other than FUCKING NUTS.

@FlightyFlutist YES.

Alternative: your children are not invited and can stay home with a babysitter (who will probably feed them chicken fingers).

Laughed through 6 pages since my response...we ended up calling the parent that RSVPed for steak for their kids. Here's how the conversation went:

Me: "Hi Mary, we just were calling because we got your RSVP. We're so excited you and little Jonny and Sally are attending our wedding. We noticed you marked steak for all 4 meals- we just wanted to check and see if there was a dietary restriction or allergy we didn't know about! We want Jonny and Sally to be safe, obviously, so if there was something wrong with the kids meal we want to make sure the caterer knows about the allergy!"

Mary "Oh gosh, we didn't realize there was a kids meal option! All the kids will have that. Steak for two kids would be ridiculous!!!!"

So yeah, parents expect it when someone else is paying for their kid. I grew up eating mostly healthy meals but dang it some times a kid just needs some chicken fingers and fries!

@SPG I am sincerely sorry you never got chicken fingers until college. What a sad experience. In my personal experience, the chicken fingers from the deli at Jewel are bangin & you should try them.. I recommend them with barbecue sauce.