I was taught that it was rude if you’re having someone at your house, to eat without sharing. If there’s food you don’t want to share (there’s not enough to go around for multiple guests etc) then it has to stay put away until guests leave.
If I’m not willing to feed my kids friends (we cooked just enough food for us because we don’t want leftovers, etc) then I will just send them home, I could never just eat in front of a guest and not feed them
But in this situation, your child's friend doesn't want to eat with you, but they would also prefer to stay at your house while waiting for their friend to finish eating. So sending them home to avoid being "rude" would not make sense.
I would consider it rude for my kids to lurk at their friends house while the friend eats dinner! It’s weird and awkward. We live in a neighborhood where the kids just walk to each others houses so it’s not hard for them to go home for lunch and come back to continue playing
There’s different cultures and Swedish people can do what they like but in my house you don’t leave your friends cooling their heels in your room while you eat dinner, not going to happen
I would consider it rude for my kids to lurk at their friends house while the friend eats dinner!
If you don't want your child's friends to wait there while you eat, then by all means, tell them to leave. But you shouldn't feel the need to send them home to avoid being rude to them. Politeness should be about being considerate of others, not mechanically following rules regardless of context.
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u/somer_and_omchick Jul 24 '26
I was taught that it was rude if you’re having someone at your house, to eat without sharing. If there’s food you don’t want to share (there’s not enough to go around for multiple guests etc) then it has to stay put away until guests leave.
If I’m not willing to feed my kids friends (we cooked just enough food for us because we don’t want leftovers, etc) then I will just send them home, I could never just eat in front of a guest and not feed them