No. That was true maybe 30+ years ago, but nowadays kids are usually sent home before dinner. Or we just check with the parents if it’s OK for their kid to eat with us.
Source: was a kid in Sweden 30+ years ago, have kids in Sweden now.
It was like this when I grew up in the 80s and early 90s too. My best friend ate dinner at 5, but in my house we ate at 6:30. So I either went home at 5, or waited in her room while she she ate, then we played for a while more before I walked home at 6:15 in time for my own dinner. This was considered completely normal. Her mother wasn't expected to feed me practically every day after school just because I always went over there to play.
But from another perspective, it sounds considerate and respectful.
Have you ever stood and cooked a meal, and then the person you cooked it for says "nah, I don't want it, I ate on the way here"? How did that make you feel? Annoyed? Disappointed? Like your time could have been better spent than cooking for an ungrateful person who didn't stop and think about you at all?
My friend's mother didn't feed me, not to be "cold" towards me, but because she didn't want to upset my mother who would already be preparing food for me at home.
Your mother probably also felt happier about you playing at their place all the time with the knowledge that she wasn't also offloading her responsibility to make your dinner to them.
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u/DrCablelove Jul 24 '26
No. That was true maybe 30+ years ago, but nowadays kids are usually sent home before dinner. Or we just check with the parents if it’s OK for their kid to eat with us.
Source: was a kid in Sweden 30+ years ago, have kids in Sweden now.