Remember the discourse over “almond moms”? The viral phrase describes a mother whose restrictive, health-obsessed eating habits end up negatively impacting her children. People on social media have referred to everyone from Yolanda Hadid to Gwyneth Paltrow as almond moms — and now, one Reddit user is in hot water with his sister after using the phrase to describe her.
Writing in the infamous /AmITheAsshole Subreddit, user @alm0ndhater provided some context: He (28M) is super close with his nephew, an 11-year-old boy. Since the kid’s father isn’t in the picture, the Original Poster has tried to be a supportive male figure in his life.
According to OP, his sister (33F) is “an absolute health nut, and her obsession with what she considers a healthy diet has only worsened over time.” It’s beginning to affect his nephew, too, he explained: “I usually try to keep our meals relatively healthy (although maybe not up to my sister’s standards), and half the time my sister will send him over with pre-made meals that she approves of anyways.” For the record, she’s never provided him with explicit guidelines for how to feed her son.
Recently, his nephew came over to watch movies and play video games. His sister didn’t pack any meals for the kid, and OP was craving pizza, so he ordered some for the two of them to share. “It was delicious,” he recalled. “The next morning, I made bacon omelettes with potatoes and a side of fruit. My nephew loved all of it.“
Sounds like a pretty balanced breakfast, right? Unfortunately, his nephew’s mom disagreed. She ended up coming over that morning to pick up her kid, and when she smelled OP cooking bacon, she got upset.
“She asked me if the bacon was turkey bacon — it wasn’t. She then asked if the pizza was made with cauliflower crust — it wasn’t,” he wrote. “I told my sister to stop being such an almond mom, and rage ensued after that. She told me that I no longer have overnight privileges with my nephew because I can’t be trusted to feed him properly.”
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“Also want to add — my nephew is healthy and never hungry, but he also never gets to indulge in anything that my sister views as even remotely bad for you,” OP continued. “He has no allergies or anything that would require restriction of any kind of food or drink. … It’s been a few days and she is still mad at me and has taken huge offense to the ‘almond mom’ comment that I made. AITA?”
For the most part, AITA Redditors in the comments had his back. OP’s comment was flippant, sure, but the concerns underlying what he said are totally valid. After all, almond mom culture can quickly verge into disordered eating or orthorexia territory.
“NTA,” one user wrote, “and I want to take a moment to tell you that it is incredibly important that you show your sister this thread and let it be a wake up call for her. To have such a severe reaction to pizza and bacon is incredibly toxic, and it’s going to create unhealthy relationships / behaviors surrounding what she is labeling as ‘bad food.’”
Is it important to eat a balanced, nutritious diet? Absolutely. In our diet talk-obsessed culture, it is equally important to cultivate a healthy relationship with food, especially as a parental figure modeling that behavior for your child. Demonizing certain foods as inherently “bad” — or banning them altogether — can send a seriously harmful message.
“I don’t agree with people saying you should basically just bend to every whim for her, because to me, she seemingly has no real concern or issue that would make it so her kid can’t have those foods — in moderation, of course,” another commenter opined. “Parents aren’t always right.”
“The truth is the truth: She’s an almond mom,” one Redditor wrote. “She didn’t give you explicit guidelines, and the kid has no allergies, so how could you be the asshole for feeding him good food? … It’s not weird to have pizza at your uncles place.”
“Sounds like [your] sister might have her own eating issues,” they continued. “Approach this topic with care.”
Diet talk got you down? Check out these powerful quotes to inspire healthier attitudes around food:
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