Either I eat SS's leftovers for lunch the next day, or if it's something he's had before and he's just being a little asshole, I save it so he can eat it later.

Merry Christmas little guy. Thought you were getting out of eating this? Hahahaha.... good luck with that.

Depends on what kind of trip. Usually we do a later breakfast/brunch and a early dinner to cut down on costs. Then we pack snacks to munch on in between and go for an ice cream later in the evening for dessert. We would break the bank paying for everyone to eat out three full meals and buying snacks too.

We always bought specific snack items for trips. FDH always had a small bag that was full of snacks for the car (small jaunts require snacks too). It is harder with a teenager but I was never picky that they eat specific stuff and each meal. Cereal is eaten any time and sometimes we grill hotdogs and hamburgers for breakfast (usually if we don't eat until 10 or so. It just depends on the day. As long as they are eating somewhat balanced meals I try not to get too bogged down on what it is.

Have you tried just talking to your SS and asking what he wants or taking him to the store and getting his help? This is an excellent time to teach him about nutrition.

As for the sleep schedule, it is a pain but enforce a bedtime. You have no problem taking power cords so pick it up at night. Call your SS several times a day to wake him up. It gets annoying and eventually they cannot go back to sleep. (My mother still does this occasionally when I want to sleep in. UGH!

Well we pack only what we want them to eat. Only my Skids are easy bc they like the oranges, apples, a banana, sandwiches, juices, and such. So for junk food, we add chips, or a candy bar, soda, and they eat everything we packed. Our all time favorite meal is meat, cheese, and crackers with a cup of fruit on the side.

We all prep the meals together too. Skids know what to expect and are quite happy with that.

For a family of 5, 3 of them boys, I budget $150 a day for food. That is about what it costs if not more.

In my house, meals and snacks are planned for the family. I don't buy/cook anything beyond that. If the skids don't want to eat what I cook, they don't eat .. and that includes snacks and desserts.

If I were in your situation, I wouldn't change my approach. I plan meals and snacks for each day. If skids don't want that, too bad. They won't get snacks either. For trips I typically buy things that are not easily wasted or are easily stored/reheated. I'm not sure what your trip accomodations consist of, so it's hard to be more specific.

After one or two skipped meals with no snacks, skids WILL eat what I make. The key is having DH on my side. He won't go through the trouble of making/buying them separate meals, but he has been known to let a snack slide here and there.

Without your DW backing you up, I don't see how this situation will get better. Maybe the solution is to let her deal with her kid's meals/snacks herself.

Draco I love when you write but sometimes I want to nidge you alittle.

SS is no different then most preteens and teenagers.

That's what they do all summer long, sleep all day and go to bed late. I just lit into my very own two DD's. They now lose their computers at 11pm every night and need to be out of bed by 11.

Let DW handle his snacks and food for the trip. Dont stress yourself out over what she wants or what he eats or for that matter how screwed up his sleep schedule is.

It only amps you up and for what reason?

So what I would do here is-allow each of your kids to pick out one or two snack items to take on this trip. Maybe your 4 year old wants a box of fruit snacks. Ok-that's his for the entire trip. Maybe ss wants a jar of nutella. Fine that's his for the trip. If he wants to stick his finger in there and eat the whole thing on the drive there-so be it-he gets no more snacks. He can eat at meal times along with everyone else. Now if on a random night you all decide to go out for ice cream I'd let him have that too-but I wouldn't get ss MORE snacks than everyone else just because he is ss. I would discuss this with dw before you go to prevent any unneeded stress. Just let her know that you are proposing that everyone gets their own personal snack item or two to take on the trip and hopefully they will make it last the entire trip because you just haven't budgeted more for excess snacks.

We do pack a few snacks for our vaca's. We usually have a considerable drive 10-14 hours and then usually stay in a condo or vacation house. Ive got 3 kids-11, 14, and 15. Last time I packed a box of fruit snacks, and a box of rice krispie treats. A lot were ate on the way done, a few eaten later at the vacation house and then that was that. I didn't run out midweek and buy special snacks for ds14 because he wanted some. He ate whatever groceries we had in the home or ate when we went out to eat like everybody else.

I do feel you on the staying up late sleeping all day. My two youngest definitely are doing this right now-my oldest works so I don't have that problem with her. Lately I have been leaving the youngest two more and more chores to do since they apparently are so bored they must sleep the day away. The thing is THEY even see it as a problem. This morning my youngest suggested we shut off the internet at 10pm. last night my ds14 asked if I could get him some sleeping pills because he cant fall asleep until like 3am. I suggested to both of them that I will be getting them up at 7am and giving them a list of chores in order to wear them out properly and then I will be seeing them of to their rooms by 10pm.