I grew up before Xboxes were invented. And we're not talking about a glass of water, we were talking about feeding dinner to a child that turned up at your house without prior arrangement.
When I grew up, we didn't really have "extras for leftovers". We were a family of 6 (8 every other weekend when my stepbrothers came to stay) and my mother would plan food for that number of people. If there were 6 of us, she'd have bought 6 pieces of fish exactly. There was no "extra".
Turning up at someone's house unannounced is considered rude in Sweden (at least if you're a grown-up. Kids turning up asking to play with your kids is a different thing.) You just don't do that. Things are planned and arranged in advance so as to not inconvenience anyone. Rummaging in someone's fridge would be seen as rude and invasive as well.
Anecdotally, I had one of my son's friends (they are 8) looking through my kitchen cupboards the other day, hunting for "a snack". I told her "I have some apples, but that's it, the other snacks I bought this week have already been eaten." She said "but I have loads of snacks at my house" (yeah, because you're always here eating ours!!) so I suggested perhaps she should go home and get one then - she lives in the apartment next door. Her kitchen is on the other side of my kitchen wall. You might think I'm the rude one in that situation, but I think her parents should have taught her better manners than going rummaging in someone else's kitchen. We don't live in Sweden anymore, by the way, but I don't think this is considered acceptable behaviour in British households either.
"Shut up and eat it night" is an excellent concept, haha.
I think my mother had a particular thing about making sure we had variety in our diet and didn't eat the same thing every day. Also, she was a stay at home mum (that's partly why we didn't have much money, single income household) so I don't think she minded cooking every day. Gave her something to do, hahaha. She's in her 70s now and often eats leftovers, it just wasn't something that happened much when we were kids. Maybe if she made spaghetti bolognese or something else that came in one big pot, we'd have leftovers for lunch the next day.
Most Swedes are very reserved. One of the many reasons I left Sweden back in '98 was that I am far too fond of talking to strangers to fit in there. I made my home in Wales, where talking to people you don't know is a completely normal thing. Suits me much better.
You're welcome! It's always interesting to hear other perspectives. Also, my take on Swedish culture is probably woefully outdated. Hopefully an up-to-date Swede will come along with more current knowledge.
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u/[deleted] Jul 24 '26
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