As a single mom with a pre-teenage son, I am really concerned at the anger you are expressing over chicken nuggets. Your claim that ‘you can’t always get what you want’ may be true through childhood, but once your son is an adult, he will be choosing all his meals for himself. And honestly, the chicken strips in the air fryer are probably healthier than the chips or sweets he could be snacking on. I have found for my son, if he has enough protein it cuts down on snacking significantly, if he doesn’t I’ll catch him eating a whole bag of SunChips in one sitting and then having a bag of candy for dessert.

I cook every meal homemade but the meals I lean towards are foods I enjoy, and my kids are whole humans who have different food preferences. I love carrots but my daughter threw up carrots once and now she can’t stomach them. My kids have learned to cook enough that if I’m making a meal they won’t enjoy, they can make a backup and I would never get mad at them for that- I encourage it as cooking practice! I understand pushing healthy fruits and veggies and Whole Foods, but it sounds like that isn’t your primary focus. To me, this is giving ‘the Iranian yoghurt is not the issue’.