8 ms·

Your kids are your kids and it's your choice how to raise them given your financial and time constraints, but teaching a 3-year-old to associate comfort and hap

Your kids are your kids and it's your choice how to raise them given your financial and time constraints, but teaching a 3-year-old to associate comfort and happiness with unhealthy food doesn't strike me as the wisest decision. When they are old enough and responsible enough for their bodies, they might decide on their own that they enjoy nicotine, corn syrup, salt, starch, and fry oil - but why bias them towards suboptimal choices so early on?

jonknee 10y ago
> the cheeseburger, apple slices, and chocolate milk You could do much worse.
- tetromino_ 10y ago
  Certainly you could do worse. But you could also do better. Teaching young kids to avoid the high-sugar, high-salt, brightly-colored food trap is hard, but I have seen first-hand families that have done it.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- tobltobs 10y ago
  > You could do much worse. How?
  - jonknee 10y ago
    Larger portions, fried foods, soda, etc. You are being purposefully difficult if you can't figure this out on your own.
    - tobltobs 10y ago
      Fried food? Seriously? Do you believe McDonalds has a backroom in their shops where they have a bakery for their apple slices, and in their backyard they are growing apple trees and some lucky cows are wandering between the trees, so they have fresh milk for their chocolate milk? You are purposely believing all this complete marketing BS so you don't have to feel like a junky if you eat this industrial trashfood. And I can really not figure out for myself what could be more trashy than McDonalds food. Maybe living solely on peanut butter sandwiches and chocolate, but maybe even that would be better, as they are not full of flavor enhancer. And actually I am not a McDonalds hater, I love to eat their hamburger. But it's like drinking beer, it's a drug, not food.
      - corin_ 10y ago
        Given you basically said "what could be worse than a cheeseburger, apple and chocolate milk?" here's an easier answer - swap the cheeseburger for a double cheeseburger. There's a nice simple example of "could be worse", for you, without even thinking about different menu items available. The apple: it's raw apple cut into slices... not fried, nor from a fictional bakery that their marketing apparently makes you think they want people to believe. What does where the cows are milked matter, judge nutritional value between chocolate milk and sugar-filled soda. Maybe your judgement of chocolate milk is negative (sure, it's not the healthiest drink in the world) and I can't say I've ever looked up it's nutrional information, but... it's flavoured milk. It comes from cows, somewhere. If you can't understand the logic that McDonalds serve lots of types of food and that some of them are more healthy and less healthy compared to each other then I'm not sure how to explain it better.
        tobltobs 10y ago
        Sorry to disturb those dreams about fresh cut apple slices. They are not freshly cut, they are cutted and treated with chemicals in a factory, packed into plastic and might be lying around for up to two weeks before some parents give them their kids to alleviate their guilty conscience for taking their kids to a drug food shop. Same for the chocolate milk. But I leave it up to you to find out what great inventions of the chemical industry enable this always same creamy taste without clumped together cacao. And the argument about bigger portions has something to do with eating habits, but not with healthy food.
        corin_ 10y ago
        I never said the apple slices were fresh. Of course they're not, they come pre-packaged, who would think they were fresh? That doesn't change the fact that they are slices of apple, and that they're not fried or baked. I'm replying to your delusion that you can't get worse than that meal, I'm not claiming it's the best or most nutritional meal in the world.
        tobltobs 10y ago
bluedino 10y ago
My siblings and I all got the 'bad' happy meal as a reward. Hamburger/nuggets, fries, Coca-cola or Sprite. Oh, and it came with the happy meal box full of activities and an actual toy. None of us developed unhealthy relationships with food or even became overweight.
- bleachedsleet 10y ago
  "I've never known anyone addicted to heroin so I know heroin addiction must never happen..."
noahth 10y ago
an argument that assumes parenting is about always making the wisest decision is an argument that misunderstands the reality of parenthood
Erik816 10y ago
You are pretty much describing the liberal guilt trip that is keeping him from occasionally taking his kids to McDonalds. It's pretty clear it's not the healthiest thing you can eat. It's also probably true that you should teach your kids that if, once in a while, they eat something that is not optimally nutritious (say, on a road trip or as a special treat) they are not going to die.
- zepto 10y ago
  He's not talking about once in a while - he's talking about several times a week.
  - smokey_the_bear 10y ago
    We take them approximately once a month.
    - zepto 10y ago
      How often would you go without the stigma?
      - smokey_the_bear 10y ago
        Maybe twice a month. We typically stop there only when traveling now. We might stroll to the one a half mile from our house for dinner once in awhile otherwise. McDonald's isn't a large part of our mostly wholesome diet. I feel good about what my kids eat on a day to day basis. Also, I'm the mother. It's not really germane to the issue, but everyone in this thread assumed otherwise.
        balls187 10y ago
        In all fairness, Smokey was a male bear.
        zepto 10y ago
        It crossed my mind that you didn't specify gender. I just copied what the previous poster had used assuming that they knew from other threads. Sorry for making that assumption. I'm curious about how the stigma actually plays out - do people you know actually say things to you about it? Would you actually experience more negative interactions if you just did what you want, or has it been internalized because you know people would disapprove?
balls187 10y ago
> Your kids are your kids and it's your choice how to raise them. Full stop. No need to continue with the rest of your judgements. Parenting is a very hard job, and it's only made worse by all the parents (and even worse--non-parents) that want to make judgements. Being a parent, I now have a profound respect and appreciation for my parents (especially my mother). Things weren't always great, but they did the best they could.
- tetromino_ 10y ago
  > Being a parent, I now have a profound respect and appreciation for my parents (especially my mother). Things weren't always great, but they did the best they could. Dude, I was growing up in the dying days of the Soviet Union, with empty shelves and lines and ration cards, and growing vegetables on a little private plot to make it through the winter without vitamin deficiency. I know very well what it's like to try to provide the best you can for your family when the circumstances don't allow you to provide much at all. But there's an enormous difference between going to a fast food place because the kids are hungry and the fridge is empty and that's the place which is open and nearby and affordable, and regularly bringing kids to a fast food place just because I like the ambience. And as a general principle, if I am not open to criticism and judgment of others, I am hobbling my ability improve. In any aspect of life. Work or scholarship or raising a child.
  - balls187 10y ago
    I think you missed my point. OP: shared personal experience related to topic of the article. You: shared off-topic comment that teaching kids to eat at McD's is not good. Me: Directly--don't share your judgements on how the OP chooses to parent (also off-topic).
- dsfyu404ed 10y ago
  No, not full stop. Just because raising kids, being a police officer, digging a ditch is "hard work" doesn't free someone from having that work criticized.
  - 10y ago
erikpukinskis 10y ago
The thing is, if they were taking their kids to the local diner, the food would be just as unhealthy but no one would comment. That's how you know the McDonalds hate is really about judging and not about health. It's like people who only care about rape when there's a Muslim suspect. If they really cared about it, they would talk about it outside of the context of religion.

jonknee 10y ago

> the cheeseburger, apple slices, and chocolate milk You could do much worse.

tetromino_ 10y ago
Certainly you could do worse. But you could also do better. Teaching young kids to avoid the high-sugar, high-salt, brightly-colored food trap is hard, but I have seen first-hand families that have done it.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
tobltobs 10y ago
> You could do much worse. How?
- jonknee 10y ago
  Larger portions, fried foods, soda, etc. You are being purposefully difficult if you can't figure this out on your own.
  - tobltobs 10y ago
    Fried food? Seriously? Do you believe McDonalds has a backroom in their shops where they have a bakery for their apple slices, and in their backyard they are growing apple trees and some lucky cows are wandering between the trees, so they have fresh milk for their chocolate milk? You are purposely believing all this complete marketing BS so you don't have to feel like a junky if you eat this industrial trashfood. And I can really not figure out for myself what could be more trashy than McDonalds food. Maybe living solely on peanut butter sandwiches and chocolate, but maybe even that would be better, as they are not full of flavor enhancer. And actually I am not a McDonalds hater, I love to eat their hamburger. But it's like drinking beer, it's a drug, not food.
    - corin_ 10y ago
      Given you basically said "what could be worse than a cheeseburger, apple and chocolate milk?" here's an easier answer - swap the cheeseburger for a double cheeseburger. There's a nice simple example of "could be worse", for you, without even thinking about different menu items available. The apple: it's raw apple cut into slices... not fried, nor from a fictional bakery that their marketing apparently makes you think they want people to believe. What does where the cows are milked matter, judge nutritional value between chocolate milk and sugar-filled soda. Maybe your judgement of chocolate milk is negative (sure, it's not the healthiest drink in the world) and I can't say I've ever looked up it's nutrional information, but... it's flavoured milk. It comes from cows, somewhere. If you can't understand the logic that McDonalds serve lots of types of food and that some of them are more healthy and less healthy compared to each other then I'm not sure how to explain it better.
      - tobltobs 10y ago
        Sorry to disturb those dreams about fresh cut apple slices. They are not freshly cut, they are cutted and treated with chemicals in a factory, packed into plastic and might be lying around for up to two weeks before some parents give them their kids to alleviate their guilty conscience for taking their kids to a drug food shop. Same for the chocolate milk. But I leave it up to you to find out what great inventions of the chemical industry enable this always same creamy taste without clumped together cacao. And the argument about bigger portions has something to do with eating habits, but not with healthy food.
        corin_ 10y ago
        I never said the apple slices were fresh. Of course they're not, they come pre-packaged, who would think they were fresh? That doesn't change the fact that they are slices of apple, and that they're not fried or baked. I'm replying to your delusion that you can't get worse than that meal, I'm not claiming it's the best or most nutritional meal in the world.
        tobltobs 10y ago

bluedino 10y ago

My siblings and I all got the 'bad' happy meal as a reward. Hamburger/nuggets, fries, Coca-cola or Sprite. Oh, and it came with the happy meal box full of activities and an actual toy. None of us developed unhealthy relationships with food or even became overweight.

bleachedsleet 10y ago
"I've never known anyone addicted to heroin so I know heroin addiction must never happen..."

noahth 10y ago

an argument that assumes parenting is about always making the wisest decision is an argument that misunderstands the reality of parenthood

Erik816 10y ago

You are pretty much describing the liberal guilt trip that is keeping him from occasionally taking his kids to McDonalds. It's pretty clear it's not the healthiest thing you can eat. It's also probably true that you should teach your kids that if, once in a while, they eat something that is not optimally nutritious (say, on a road trip or as a special treat) they are not going to die.

zepto 10y ago
He's not talking about once in a while - he's talking about several times a week.
- smokey_the_bear 10y ago
  We take them approximately once a month.
  - zepto 10y ago
    How often would you go without the stigma?
    - smokey_the_bear 10y ago
      Maybe twice a month. We typically stop there only when traveling now. We might stroll to the one a half mile from our house for dinner once in awhile otherwise. McDonald's isn't a large part of our mostly wholesome diet. I feel good about what my kids eat on a day to day basis. Also, I'm the mother. It's not really germane to the issue, but everyone in this thread assumed otherwise.
      - balls187 10y ago
        In all fairness, Smokey was a male bear.
      - zepto 10y ago
        It crossed my mind that you didn't specify gender. I just copied what the previous poster had used assuming that they knew from other threads. Sorry for making that assumption. I'm curious about how the stigma actually plays out - do people you know actually say things to you about it? Would you actually experience more negative interactions if you just did what you want, or has it been internalized because you know people would disapprove?

balls187 10y ago

> Your kids are your kids and it's your choice how to raise them. Full stop. No need to continue with the rest of your judgements. Parenting is a very hard job, and it's only made worse by all the parents (and even worse--non-parents) that want to make judgements. Being a parent, I now have a profound respect and appreciation for my parents (especially my mother). Things weren't always great, but they did the best they could.

tetromino_ 10y ago
> Being a parent, I now have a profound respect and appreciation for my parents (especially my mother). Things weren't always great, but they did the best they could. Dude, I was growing up in the dying days of the Soviet Union, with empty shelves and lines and ration cards, and growing vegetables on a little private plot to make it through the winter without vitamin deficiency. I know very well what it's like to try to provide the best you can for your family when the circumstances don't allow you to provide much at all. But there's an enormous difference between going to a fast food place because the kids are hungry and the fridge is empty and that's the place which is open and nearby and affordable, and regularly bringing kids to a fast food place just because I like the ambience. And as a general principle, if I am not open to criticism and judgment of others, I am hobbling my ability improve. In any aspect of life. Work or scholarship or raising a child.
- balls187 10y ago
  I think you missed my point. OP: shared personal experience related to topic of the article. You: shared off-topic comment that teaching kids to eat at McD's is not good. Me: Directly--don't share your judgements on how the OP chooses to parent (also off-topic).
dsfyu404ed 10y ago
No, not full stop. Just because raising kids, being a police officer, digging a ditch is "hard work" doesn't free someone from having that work criticized.
- 10y ago

erikpukinskis 10y ago

The thing is, if they were taking their kids to the local diner, the food would be just as unhealthy but no one would comment. That's how you know the McDonalds hate is really about judging and not about health. It's like people who only care about rape when there's a Muslim suspect. If they really cared about it, they would talk about it outside of the context of religion.