Lessons learned during childhood often come back at surprising moments.

One woman who grew up poor was always told that if she didn’t like the meal, she could cook a different one herself. So years later, when she heard her father-in-law complaining, she knew just what to tell him.

You’ll want to read on for this one!

Complain about dinner? You cook the next one!

Growing up pretty poor (think food stamps, hand-me-downs from neighbors, and regular power/water/phone shutoffs for non-payment), we had a strict “clean your plate” rule for meals.

Dinner was what it was. Liver and onions? Hate green peppers? Suck it up.

But when there were complaints, mom had a policy.

Mom got tired of the kids griping about dinner we didn’t like. So she established the “you complain, you cook” rule.

It didn’t curb the dislikes, but we were less likely to get mouthy about it.

Which was then strictly enforced.

Kids being kids, we all ended up saying something not appreciated by Mom and had to cook dinner the next night.

Fair enough. Lessons were learned. Dinners by the kids were cooked.

So when she found herself having dinner years later, she found herself remembering her upbringing.

I was 19 when I moved in with my fiancé’s family. I had my fiancé’s room and he had the sofa.

One night, Mom made something that Dad didn’t like. He got loud and sort of in her face about it.

I’d been struggling with their “his vs her” roles and shared that I had grown up with an interesting rule about dinners. That the person who complains, cooks next.

They thought it was a joke at first, but she soon showed them she was quite serious.

He laughed. She laughed. My fiancé wasn’t sure where this was going. I dug in.

“No. Really. You hurt her feelings. What are you cooking tomorrow?”

Mom, new to the pushback, was surprised. Dad was, too.

He wasn’t happy, but he did follow through.

He hemmed. He hawed. He found himself backed into a corner and, to save face, gave in.

Dad-in-law makes a pretty kickin’ chili, y’all! 😆

Sounds like dad just learned a new hobby!

What did Reddit have to say?

This commenter muses that she probably won some major points with her mother-in-law that day.

Her father-in-law gets a few points too for actually complying.

One person liked this motto so much that they framed it.

It’s not always the moms who are the best cook in the house.

Her comment changed more than just the dinner menu — it rebalanced the entire kitchen dynamic!

From then on, he thought twice before criticizing a meal.

Thought that was satisfying? Check out what this employee did when their manager refused to pay for their time while they were traveling for business.