For adults, it’s easy to say no to food that we do not like to eat.

But when children say no, often, it’s a big deal to parents.

This story features the father and mother of a child who argue differently when it comes to feeding him blueberries.

AITA for not forcing my child to eat blueberries?

Today, my wife gave our 11-year-old son some blueberries.

My son said that he’d rather not eat them, because he doesn’t really like blueberries.

My wife replied, “But these are really good,” so my son hesitantly tried one blueberry, and replied, “Thanks, but I still don’t like them, and rather not eat the rest”.

I thought that was the end of it and went to the store to get groceries for dinner.

The father came home to a crying child.

When i came back, my son was crying at the table because he was forced to eat the remaining three blueberries.

I asked my wife, “Why is he crying?” and she explained that he had to eat the blueberries because it is healthy.

He negotiated eating a healthy alternative with his son, and it seemed to work.

Thinking it was just about eating a piece of fruit, I told my son that he didn’t have to eat the blueberries, but he did have to eat another piece of fruit instead, like an apple or three strawberries or something similar.

My son immediatly agreed, spat out the blueberries (in the garbage can), and started eating an apple.

Or so he thought.

This, much to my wife’s dismay.

She said I overruled her authority, and that my son will never learn to eat healthy.

My reply was that it is not ok to force a child (or any other person) to eat something they don’t like (especially after they tasted it).

How would she feel if I force her to eat something she doesn’t like? Why is it ok for her to not eat certain foods, but not for our son?

Dad continued to argue his point of view.

He likes enough vegetables and fruits in order to get a balanced diet, so I think we should meet him halfway, and not focus on forcing him to eat stuff we know he doesn’t like.

And he is not really a fussy eater, so we have plenty of healthy stuff to choose from.

Things got worse.

The situation escalated, and at one point, my son even said, “I’ll just eat the blueberries” in an attempt to de-escalate our argument (after which, he took three blueberries from the fridge and swallow them almost whole just to get it over with).

Sadly for him, it didn’t really work because we were already too far into the argument (although I did thank him afterwards for trying and apoligized for not being able to let it slide).

Am I the jerk because I didn’t force my son to eat the blueberries, and allowed him to take another piece of fruit he does like?

What do you think? Should OP just have sided with his wife on this matter? Let’s read the comments.

This user has a strong negative reaction to the mother.

And another rant about the mother on this one.

This user thinks they need family therapy. Would you agree?

This user shares a similar experience of his husband.

And here’s a personal experience that had a great impact to the commenter.

He’s 11 years old.

Let him decide what he wants and doesn’t want to eat, ffs.

If you enjoyed that story, read this one about a mom who was forced to bring her three kids with her to apply for government benefits, but ended up getting the job of her dreams.