TV Made Me Do It

I just finished reading a news story where various food manufacturers are going to cease marketing foods to children unless they fall into certain guidelines for "healthier" foods. One of the commments that was made indicated that if food companies stopped using cartoon charecters and other popular icons, "adults could help their children make better choices." Hmmm...in our house my mother made those decisions and stuck to them. No matter what Tony the Tiger or Ronald Mc Donald thought, the last word was my mother's. Funny thing too, the only choice we had about what to eat was what was put in front of us. Must be things had changed and I didn't get the memo.

Obviously you have never seen a kid throwing a temper tantrum in the cereal aisle of the grocery store. Most mothers give in for the sake of embarassment and the fellow shoppers peace. Chow Jim

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Originally posted by Jimeats

Obviously you have never seen a kid throwing a temper tantrum in the cereal aisle of the grocery store. Most mothers give in for the sake of embarassment and the fellow shoppers peace. Chow Jim

You certainly wouldn't have seen my kid throwing a temper tantrum in a grocery store. In the first place, I would not allow it to happen.

As we all know it is up to us as parents to monitor what our children eat. Yes, you can have pickey eaters but also stear them in the right direction. My son, as a child, ate the usuals (pizza, sugar loaded cereal, etc.), but now a salad is one of his favorite things to eat. I tried at every meal as he was growing up to provide a salad, veggies, etc. If he ate as much of the good stuff as he could, he then could have the sweet or junk stuff.

quote:

Originally posted by Jimeats

Obviously you have never seen a kid throwing a temper tantrum in the cereal aisle of the grocery store. Most mothers give in for the sake of embarassment and the fellow shoppers peace. Chow Jim

I am 6'2" tall and weigh about 315 pounds. My mother is now 85, she's about 4'10" and weighs about 98 pounds soaking wet with rocks in her pockets, and I'm still terrified of that little woman! Even if I would have dared to throw a tantrum, I'd have only done it once!!

Times have changed my friends. When my Dad decided we would stop for hamburgers while on a trip, we were not consulted about what, where, or anything else. We got what was passed into the back seat...and that included the beverage !

Today the FF places are being "forced" to do co-op multi-company stores to allow the kid who doesn't like chicken or fish to allow his parents to have one of those choices while he can get his burger or pizza under the same roof. Heaven forbid that you don't ask junior what flavor soda he wants with his "Happy Meal" !

I hate being in a store when a Mom has a kid or two in the shopping cart and she actually asks them what they want as they browse the aisles. I watched a kid fight with his mother over soda choices today... Yuck !

There was no debating with my mother when it came to meals. As she was fond of saying, "This isn't a cafeteria. We all eat the same thing and we all eat at the same time". She also insisted that dinner each night begin with either a tossed salad, or half a grapefruit, or a glass of juice. She did not allow junk food in the house, and we certainly did not get junk food on the rare occasions when we dined outside of the house.

All of that being said, I have observed that parenting today is very different in all too many cases. As others have stated, today's children are usually catered to and placated, with the result that the child who demands junk food usually gets it. All too many contemporary parents gave up any pretense at regulating their children's eating habits at an early age, from what I have observed.

Luckily, there are still some exceptions to this. However, the norm is pretty much what I stated above, with the result that we have an epidemic of childhood obesity with the resultant explosion of diabetes and other obesity-related diseases in those children.

All-in-all, its not a pretty picture, and anything that will allow push-over parents to avoid battling with their children over junk food will be to everyone's advantage.

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Originally posted by Tedbear


There was no debating with my mother when it came to meals. As she was fond of saying, "This isn't a cafeteria. We all eat the same thing and we all eat at the same time". She also insisted that dinner each night begin with either a tossed salad, or half a grapefruit, or a glass of juice. She did not allow junk food in the house, and we certainly did not get junk food on the rare occasions when we dined outside of the house.

All of that being said, I have observed that parenting today is very different in all too many cases. As others have stated, today's children are usually catered to and placated, with the result that the child who demands junk food usually gets it. All too many contemporary parents gave up any pretense at regulating their children's eating habits at an early age, from what I have observed.

Luckily, there are still some exceptions to this. However, the norm is pretty much what I stated above, with the result that we have an epidemic of childhood obesity with the resultant explosion of diabetes and other obesity-related diseases in those children.

All-in-all, its not a pretty picture, and anything that will allow push-over parents to avoid battling with their children over junk food will be to everyone's advantage.

While what young people eat is certainly an issue, one thing I have noticed is that most young people no longer "do" anything. They come home from school and immediately become one with their video games or computer or both. Most have no social skills, because they no longer socialize. They speak to each other the abbreviated form of text messaging. They do not go out and "do" things. They may "talk" to lots of people but it is done annonymously in chat rooms and on game sites. As children we ran around outside all summer long. Not necessarily because we wanted to, but our parents put us outside for some fresh air and movement. My 19 year old boy, has no desire to do anything but gaze into a video game. We don't let that be his life, but that's all he would do if we let him. His friends are no different. So while junk food certainly plays a role, the fact that many kids are so sedentary seems to be an even larger problem. What was that line from the song 2525? "You ain't got a thing to do, some machine's doin' that for you!"

quote:

Originally posted by Mack184

I just finished reading a news story where various food manufacturers are going to cease marketing foods to children unless they fall into certain guidelines for "healthier" foods. One of the commments that was made indicated that if food companies stopped using cartoon charecters and other popular icons, "adults could help their children make better choices." Hmmm...in our house my mother made those decisions and stuck to them. No matter what Tony the Tiger or Ronald Mc Donald thought, the last word was my mother's. Funny thing too, the only choice we had about what to eat was what was put in front of us. Must be things had changed and I didn't get the memo.

I have to appreciate the timeliness of this weeks' comic strip:
http://www.gocomics.com/tomthedancingbug/

When I was a kid I remember going to the grocery store with my mom, but I don’t remember having a say in anything. We would of course run by the bakery and get a free cookie! My mom was a good cook, not gourmet but decent, coming from a long line of Norwegians she tended to cook a lot of fish, I ate pickled herring for breakfast! She came from the school of “you eat what you are given” and “eat what you take, don’t waste” So If I got a big old plate of meatloaf I had better eat it, if not, on went the tin foil and guess what was for lunch the next day. We never ate fast food, or take out, or TV dinners.
Kids eat what they are given, and if parents are ruled by the ease and seemingly harmless lure of fast food, take out and sugary cereals than they need to take control and nip it in the bud, the kid will complain but eventually hunger wins out. The kids I am seeing lately are just sad.

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Originally posted by Sushi_Girl

They look quite tender and juicy but unfortunately my oven is not big enough.
I believe slow oven roasting to be the traditional method correct? From the Grimms Bros. "Enchanted Recipes"?


My hog roaster on the other hand.....

You don't have a copy of "To Serve Mankind" do you? My question would be condiments--do you want to go with something savory, like a mustard or a balsamic glaze, or something sweet, like a chutney?

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Originally posted by Pat T Hat

quote:

Originally posted by Sushi_Girl

They look quite tender and juicy but unfortunately my oven is not big enough.
I believe slow oven roasting to be the traditional method correct? From the Grimms Bros. "Enchanted Recipes"?


My hog roaster on the other hand.....

hilarious, although they might taste bad with all the crap they eat, NOTICE the Game controller right next to the boy........throw it away and kick him outside

quote:

Originally posted by Sushi_Girl

quote:

Originally posted by Pat T Hat

quote:

Originally posted by Sushi_Girl

They look quite tender and juicy but unfortunately my oven is not big enough.
I believe slow oven roasting to be the traditional method correct? From the Grimms Bros. "Enchanted Recipes"?


My hog roaster on the other hand.....

hilarious, although they might taste bad with all the crap they eat, NOTICE the Game controller right next to the boy........throw it away and kick him outside

I used to joke that a lot of parents were giving their kids an early grave for their birthday. Then, A&E or Discovery or some network made the shows "Honey, We're Killing The Kids". That picture says it all

Kevin