That old "Mom" saying "There's kids starving in China....."

[WILCO]

Anyone know how that one started?

[Garyshome]

What?

[Der Gebirgsjager]

I don't know how it started, but at one time maybe there were. What I do remember is a funny cartoon I saw once of a little kid looking at his plate of spinach and his mom saying "Eat your spinach, Dennis; there are kids starving in China that would love to have it." And the kid replies, "O.K., mom, give it to them."

[jcwit]

https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100611202345AARGW5X



https://stevengoddard.wordpress.com/2013/10/16/but-what-about-the-starving-kids-in-china/


Quick google search.

[waksupi]

One of the local saloons has one, "finish your drink, there are sober children in India."

[wch]

Forerunner to starving kids in China: "Slow down, you're gulping your food like a starving Armenian."
Both the sayings were due to very real famines in those countries.

[swheeler]

My mom never had to tell me that, not with 3 brothers and 2 sisters.

[MtGun44]

I always said, "so send it to them."

Now I would say, "good".

[Hickory]

It's one of the 8 lies parents tell their kids to get them to do or not do certain things.
Off hand I can only recall two:
1) Don't eat the cookie doe,it will give you worms.
2) Don't look at dirty pictures, it will make you go blind.
Along with the starving children in China.

[Ola]

Maybe it has something to do with The Great Leap Forward?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Leap_Forward

[WILCO]

Maybe it has something to do with The Great Leap Forward?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Leap_Forward

Thanks for the link!

[waksupi]

It's one of the 8 lies parents tell their kids to get them to do or not do certain things.
Off hand I can only recall two:
1) Don't eat the cookie doe,it will give you worms.
2) Don't look at dirty pictures, it will make you go blind.
Along with the starving children in China.

The cookie dough thing has some basis in fact. Flour usually has parasites of various types, and should be cooked before eating.

[Markbo]

I don't know why, I don't know how but back in the early 60's my Mom's favorite was "The starving Armenians". We have no ties to Armenians in any way, shape or form so I don't know why they drew her pity.

[Rattlesnake Charlie]

I always said, "so send it to them."

Now I would say, "good".

I like it!

[Hardcast416taylor]

I recall hearing that saying way back in the 1950`s.Robert

[Ola]

I don't know why, I don't know how but back in the early 60's my Mom's favorite was "The starving Armenians". We have no ties to Armenians in any way, shape or form so I don't know why they drew her pity.

That one must be based on the "Armenian Holocaust": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenian_Genocide

[popper]

But mom, we are sending boatloads of food to N. Korea, because the Gov. there is starving the people. And 50% of the other US kids are on food stamps and have to get meals provided by the Gov. at school. Saw a funny one a few months back, Texas school wasn't feeding enough 'good' stuff to the kids for breakfast, at school. Maybe the PARENTS should get their *** ***** out of bed and FEED the kids.

[bob208]

late 50's we would hear from the nuns eat it there are starving children n the world. one time I said back if that is what they have to eat then no wonder they are starving. that nun could swing that yard stick like a samurai warrior.

[Bad Water Bill]

The nuns I had preferred a triangular ruler.

Their rulers never broke or got nicked while violently striking the palm of your hand or your backside.

[gwpercle]

Not sure how it started or why my cleaning my plate was going help them, but heard it more than once , along with :
"Don't sit so close to the TV , it'll hurt your eyes."
"Don't eat fried fish and drink milk , it'll kill you."
"Don't go swimming for one hour after eating, you'll drown."
"Don't eat oyster's in a month that doesn't have an R in it, you'll get sick."
"Don't swallow watermelon seeds, they'll grow into a watermelon vine in your stomach."

That's just a few I could remember off the top of my head. She had a brazillion sayings, things like if you dropped fork that meant company was coming, if you dropped a spoon a child was coming , if your nose itched you were going to kiss a fool....she was from East Texas and they had all kinds of sayings/predictions/meanings for just about anything that happened or they
saw...it would always mean something.
I wish now I had written them down.
Gary

[Bad Water Bill]

"Don't eat rabbits in a month that doesn't have an R in it, you'll die."

[kfarm]

In Catholic schools the 50's we were always saving our penneys for the poor "pagan babies" which I guess went hand in hand with "duck and cover".

[jcwit]

"Don't eat rabbits in a month that doesn't have an R in it, you'll die."

~
I always was told by my parents it was shell fish and oysters. Reason in the older days shipping into the Midwest was slow and there was no refrigeration. Always made sense to me

[Schrag4]

Obviously nobody is going to send their leftovers across the ocean to feed a starving child, although as a child, that's what many of us thought the point of this saying was. Parents need to realize their children won't understand that to throw perfectly good food away is an insult to people who have none, at least not without a lengthy discussion to put it into terms that they would understand. I tend to take the much more direct approach with my kids and explain how my wife and I work hard to buy the food that they're considering throwing away - that it's time away from them (working) that affords them the meal. It's human nature to be wasteful with something you did not earn, but it's pretty easy to explain how if we waste money on food then we'll have less to spend on things that they enjoy, and perhaps also less time to spend with them.

Some parents probably need to quit putting food on a kid's plate if they know it's not going to get eaten. There are extremes, but occasionally it's OK for one of your kids to simply not like the main dish and either go hungry or make himself something simple like a sandwich (learn to be self sufficient). Your kid won't starve and I really, REALLY don't see that as a battle worth fighting. I know some will disagree with me. Obviously I'm not talking about preparing a whole other meal because one person doesn't like the main dish. The exception I make is if someone has an allergy. For instance, tonight is my oldest's birthday. His favorite meal is shrimp pasta and crab legs, which we only make on special occasions due to the cost, but my youngest is allergic to shellfish. I'm going to spoil her tonight with pizza rolls (which we pretty much NEVER buy).

[Markbo]

Schrag I think you are right. My Mom fed us brussel sprouts doused in vinegar KNOWING we would not eat them. I had to stay at the table until I cleaned my plate. I remember more than once being carried to bed having stayed at that table until past bed time. For some reason unknown to me that fight was worth it to my Mom. I never had that fight with mine.

Then again I am proud of the fact that I never once took my daughter to McDonalds in her entire life so maybe it's just me. :D

[Oreo]

My oldest is 4yo and we have this battle regularly. The rules are that he doesn't have to eat but he must eat the vegetable first before having the rest of the meal. This worked for a while till he figured out he could skip the vegetable at dinner and get cereal for breakfast and a sandwich for lunch instead. Then we started carrying over the uneaten vegetable to breakfast or lunch till he went a whole day without eating and we decided that is worse then not eating the vegetable. The whole point is for him to have a vaguely balanced diet instead of just sugar and starch. Its a battle worth having as long as you don't lose perspective, but it sucks none the less.

My son has learned to usually eat the small portion of vegetable because it's easier then the alternative of doing battle with mom and dad. He does still need to be reminded once or twice a week.

[Schrag4]

Oreo, I hear you - there's a limit. In our house we have the "two no-thank-you bites" rule, although our kids are pretty much grown out of that phase (youngest is 7). We're lucky with our kids. They're picky about some things, but all 3 like most veggies. In fact, I'm the only one in my family that doesn't eat most veggies. I've asked my kids if they think I'm a picky eater and they tell me I eat everything because it's the meat and other main dishes that they typically have a problem with, and I sometimes end up finishing their plates.

I'll admit that I've always been a picky eater when it comes to veggies. To me, there are 2 kinds of picky eaters. There are those who don't like certain foods, like me, and there are those who will only eat food prepared a certain way. My kids are astonished at what kind of burned, dried-out meat I'll eat. I'm not picky at all in that sense. I think that comes from growing up the youngest of 4 boys in a family that was just scraping by, plus, I love my mom, but she burned everything, so I guess you could say I've acquired that taste.

[Kent Fowler]

I'm trying to remember all the dire things my mother said would happen to me if I didn't eat liver.

[starmac]

LOL Just had this conversation with one of my daughters (in her 30's) last week about us making her eat greens, spinach and whatnot. Now it is a regular for her and she has had the same battles with her kids. lol
I grew up in East Texas and also heard the Watermelon seed thing, The fish and milk thing, swimming after eating thing (because it could cause cramps) I did use to get charlie horses pretty bad, so maybe there is something to it that got it started.
Never heard the oyster with the r's in a month, but did live by that for rabbits. Rabbits would get what we called wools in the summer months, I doubt if they ever killed anybody, but a guy would have to be hungry to eat them after seeing them.

I know for a fact the don't eat a green persimmon was only something you would only try once. lol

[Oreo]

I was told that oysters were only legal to harvest in months with an 'R', thus you just couldn't get them in the other months. Granted, that was 20+ years ago by my grandfather who may not have known of what he spoke.

[jcwit]

Could be, who knows for positive, any way I was going back to the early part of the 1900's.

[robg]

my friends mothers sayings. hes a fool to himself.shes no better tan she ought to be.it will end in tears. tears before bedtime.number 1 youll have someones eye out with that

[Kilroy08]

I was always told it was starving kids in Ethiopia.

[castalott]

[QUOTE http://castboolits.gunloads.com/images/icons/icon5.png That old "Mom" saying "There's kids starving in China....."QUOTE]

Now this is funny...When I was a kid, mom said this to me. Flash forward 50 years and I have a friend who legally immigrated to the US from China a few years ago. He is 1 month older than me. I told him what mom said and he replied, " It's true. Many , many days only 1 bowl of rice when I was young. It was a small bowl too!" My mom always was wise...

[rondog]

Probably more starving kids in N. Korea than anywhere.....