Parenting: How I defeated the red haired clown.

[FixedGear]

Originally posted by Mibz
I don't think people will argue that the majority of fast food isn't healthy at all... I'm not saying McDonalds is good for you, I'm not saying that people in marketing are angels and I'm not saying that I agree or disagree with OP.

But I would argue that it is healthy. Look at this nutritional information for a Big Mac. Calories, fats, sodium, protein, vitamins... this is a good part of a healthy meal! This Big Mac doesn't contain poison, and there isn't anything wrong with eating it. The problems come when calorie-, fat-, and sodium-rich foods like this constitute a majority of one's diet. It's a diet issue, not a food issue.

[LollerBrader]

Time is short, so I'll respond in bulk.

To those who criticize me for "lying to my kids": I'll start by dismissing most of you as non-parents. For those that are parents, and just block their children with a "No": Good for you, but certainly not my style. I'd prefer to give my children an understanding of my choices towards them, even if a slightly distorted one. If a few of you have actually figured out how to get preschoolers to swear off of mcdonalds on the basis of candid full disclosure, I commend you.

For those who think Mcdonalds is "not so bad in moderation": You're probably right - From an adult standpoint. In regards to the Red Hair clown, however, children don't know enough to exercise moderation, and tend towards polarity: either they'll crave Mcds, or reject it. I'm happy to not have to fight with my kids every time we drive by the pee-colored arches.

Mcdonalds vs other FF: We don't eat a lot of FF. I always carry snacks, and plan ahead. FF to us is Pho, Sushi, or Bahnmi, or falafel. FOOD DOESN'T HAVE TO BE SHITTY IN ORDER TO BE EITHER FAST, OR DELICIOUS. I actually found the smell of the Mcds on my hands disgusting.

That being said, I DO find Mcd's more objectionable than it's direct peers, due to the disproportionate emphasis on marketing to kids that goes beyond simple advertising, into the realm of psy-ops. My young daughter intuits that it's wrong for a business to try to trick its customers - Oddly few of the truth-mongers here have raised this as a concern. Yet I am taken to task for exaggerating the shittiness of their food. Funny.

To the morons who assume I'm some facile one note wonder like themselves who will employ the same strategy for more serious issues later: Phhhhtttt!

To those who question if I stole this posting from somewhere: Of course I wrote it. It's not exactly Shakespeare.

The accusation is flattering,
nonetheless.

[sxtasy]

Originally posted by Mibz

I won't judge you for what you eat or what you feed your kids. What tv they watch, what you buy for them etc is all up to you. Even my wife and I differ on topics related to raising our kid. I know for me personally, I remember a lot of the things that my parents told/raised me with and I find it very influential on how I currently raise my kid, so I guess those things pass down through generations.

You could be the chubby parent with the two chubby kids (not directed at you Mibz ) slowly pushing a cart through the aisles of walmart in between mcdonalds lunch and dinner feedings, I don't care if your that person. But I know I'm not going to raise my kids like that.

[Ntense_SpecV]

^^I'm a parent and yes I judged you. What I didn't do is judge you on feeding your kids fast-food or not. It was the method of teaching I didn't agree with. My question about whether or not you would tell the truth about where babies come from was facetious as I would like to believe you would tell the truth about much more serious topics. But if you want to answer one more question on this topic...

Did you tell your wife what you did? I'm only asking out of curiosity as I'm sure my own wife would give me a little crap for lying to the kids rather than deal with the tears that just saying 'No' often brings from toddlers. She's a tough mom and I'm a sucker sometimes and I find that it's easier to give in and have happy kids, but there are some issues I won't budge on. I haven't had to deal a whole lot with fast-food issues yet as my youngest is 19 months and my oldest 3.5 years doesn't really eat fast food. I can honestly say she has been to McD's 2 times in her life. I hope to keep it that way...but let's be realistic here.

In a way I'm sure humor is a lot easier to deal with than crying. God knows I certainly could have used humor as a teaching tool then having to deal with tears, but I just find it easier to say no. Which leads into, "because I said so", which is a whole other topic unto itself.

[rx7boi]

Damn, I was gonna go the McDonalds and then I stumbled across this thread.

Now I don't want to go, I don't want to eat poop!

[Mibz]

Originally posted by FixedGear
But I would argue that it is healthy. Look at this nutritional information for a Big Mac. Calories, fats, sodium, protein, vitamins... this is a good part of a healthy meal! This Big Mac doesn't contain poison, and there isn't anything wrong with eating it. The problems come when calorie-, fat-, and sodium-rich foods like this constitute a majority of one's diet. It's a diet issue, not a food issue.

The think the only significant difference in what we're saying is that the majority of people in this thread are comparing a Big Mac to other foods that can be found in a grocery store or not-so-fast-food restaurant whereas you're looking at it as an absolute.

Does a Big Mac have nutritional value? Yes.
Are there nutrients that the average person requires to be generally healthy? Yes.
Is eating three Big Macs a day for the rest of your life better than eating nothing for the rest of your life? Yes.

However, I think we can agree that the majority of readily available foods in the average city have better balanced and useful nutrition than the popular items on McD's menu.

EDIT: And yes, like everything else, moderation is the difference between enough and too much.

[FixedGear]

Originally posted by LollerBrader
FF to us is Pho, Sushi, or Bahnmi, or falafel.

doesn't everyone consider these things fast food? anyway, thanks for listing what you consider as healthy alternatives to McDonalds. Some food for thought:

Pho - absolutely loaded with sodium and carbs

Sushi - sugar-soaked rice - carbs with carbs. If you have it with fish and/or nori, keep in mind that it's also chock full of mercury and other industrial contaminants. Eating fish also contributes to fish sustainability problems.

Bahn mi - loaded with fat, sodium, and carbs.

Falafel - these are artery-clogging, deep-fried, death-doughnuts!!! Falafel has got to be far worse than eating a pile of french fries.

[LollerBrader]

Originally posted by Ntense_SpecV

Did you tell your wife what you did? I'm only asking out of curiosity as I'm sure my own wife would give me a little crap for

I told her. She thought it was funny, in an eye-rolling kind of way, like many of the things I do. Definitely not angry. For the most part, we don't lie to our kids, and definitely not about serious things - But the rule gets quite bent where mischief is concerned. And mischief predominates in my world. Usually my kids know me well enough to know when I'm pulling their legs anyhow.

Curiously, they've doubted the veracity of my mcdonalds/poo claim for years. "Daddy I don't think that's true". It wasn't until we actually looked over a burger that they felt it had some validity.

That's gotta tell you something.

Originally posted by Ntense_SpecV

lying to the kids rather than deal with the tears that just saying 'No' often brings from toddlers.

It is very rare that we say "No". It is not that we say yes either - There are just so many other tools in the toolkit. Plus, as you've observed, this comes at a tear-cost, which in itself can be a time sink. Makes for unhappy kids AND unhappy adults.

For the most part, the only time I deal with tears is at bedtime, when Daddy is tired, and I peter out after two stories. This is the thing they hate the worst.

But they are really just such wonderful kids. We don't have much conflict - But don't take that to mean that the children are submissive, or that the parents are permissive.

Originally posted by Ntense_SpecV

In a way I'm sure humor is a lot easier to deal with than crying. God knows I certainly could have used humor as a teaching tool then having to deal with tears, but I just find it easier to say no. Which leads into, "because I said so", which is a whole other topic unto itself.

You've pretty well hit the nail on the head. We never, say "Because I said so". Not so much that it's a rule, but it would never even occur to us. This is not consistent with our own parenting journey.

[sabad66]

Originally posted by FixedGear


doesn't everyone consider these things fast food? anyway, thanks for listing what you consider as healthy alternatives to McDonalds. Some food for thought:

Pho - absolutely loaded with sodium and carbs

Sushi - sugar-soaked rice - carbs with carbs. If you have it with fish and/or nori, keep in mind that it's also chock full of mercury and other industrial contaminants. Eating fish also contributes to fish sustainability problems.

Bahn mi - loaded with fat, sodium, and carbs.

Falafel - talk about artery-clogging deep-fried death-doughnut! This has got to be far worse than eating a pile of french fries.

I heard falafels are just the leftover chick peas that weren't good enough for hommous, and then washed in gasoline to give them the dark colour when deep frying

[ekguy]

that was freaking AWESOME!!!!

[sputnik]

Originally posted by FixedGear


doesn't everyone consider these things fast food? anyway, thanks for listing what you consider as healthy alternatives to McDonalds. Some food for thought:

Pho - absolutely loaded with sodium and carbs

Sushi - sugar-soaked rice - carbs with carbs. If you have it with fish and/or nori, keep in mind that it's also chock full of mercury and other industrial contaminants. Eating fish also contributes to fish sustainability problems.

Bahn mi - loaded with fat, sodium, and carbs.

Falafel - these are artery-clogging, deep-fried, death-doughnuts!!! Falafel has got to be far worse than eating a pile of french fries.

Pho has anywhere between 3000-4000 mg of sodium and 150-200g of carbs PER BOWL! I would rather eat 3 large orders of fries with a liter of ketchup.

Bahn Mi as well. Not to mention that most of the meat is processed. How is processed meat better than a beef patty with no other ingredients is beyond me.

Sushi is another good one. Ever watch that show with Mike Rowe (World's Dirtiest Man) where they inspect fish. Ever wonder how many worms are in your sushi?

[sputnik]

Originally posted by LollerBrader
Curiously, they've doubted the veracity of my mcdonalds/poo claim for years. "Daddy I don't think that's true". It wasn't until we actually looked over a burger that they felt it had some validity.

That's gotta tell you something.

Your kids are going to have trust issues (when they come to realize that you systematically lie to them to get what YOU want) or they are going to have some serious issue with critical thinking as they get older.

Wonder what is going to happen when your daughters boyfriend tells her she can't get pregnant the first time or when standing up. Or when her boyfriend tells her that he can drive just fine after a few beer.

Why don't you just tell them the truth and deal with the tears for the first couple of times?

[lilmira]

Well you don't drink the soup unless you are white.

[jdmXSI]

I agree with the motive behind the op's post but not the way it was carried out. IMO it seems like he's trying to teach his kid "what" to think rather than "how" to think. I personally eat fairly healthy and maybe eat FF once or twice a month. Each a d every time I regret it because I feel like shit after. To add to zipodas point about fast food potentially being carcinogenic, here is a warning sign posted in McD's in California (keep in mind it's California and take it for what it's worth but there has to be a potential for something or there would be no reason for the sign to be there).


» Click image for larger version

[sputnik]

Originally posted by jdmXSI
I agree with the motive behind the op's post but not the way it was carried out. IMO it seems like he's trying to teach his kid "what" to think rather than "how" to think. I personally eat fairly healthy and maybe eat FF once or twice a month. Each a d every time I regret it because I feel like shit after. To add to zipodas point about fast food potentially being carcinogenic, here is a warning sign posted in McD's in California (keep in mind it's California and take it for what it's worth but there has to be a potential for something or there would be no reason for the sign to be there).


» Click image for larger version

The last paragraph basically confirms that this is a case of big government appeasing a small minority of irrational people while letting science say that there is really nothing to worry about.

Are the same signs found at all other restaurants serving french fries or baked potatoes?

[lilmira]

That's an eye opener! They may ask you to sign a waiver next. Probably some lawyer came up with that while taking a dump.

I eat McDs sometimes just for the convenience and I'm usually sick of it after a few bites. They sure come out different.

I'm raised to enjoy good food so the choice is obvious to me. If I can raise my kids the same way, I'm sure they can make the right decision on their own.

[FixedGear]

Originally posted by jdmXSI
I agree with the motive behind the op's post but not the way it was carried out. IMO it seems like he's trying to teach his kid "what" to think rather than "how" to think. I personally eat fairly healthy and maybe eat FF once or twice a month. Each a d every time I regret it because I feel like shit after. To add to zipodas point about fast food potentially being carcinogenic, here is a warning sign posted in McD's in California (keep in mind it's California and take it for what it's worth but there has to be a potential for something or there would be no reason for the sign to be there).


» Click image for larger version

But that applies to all food, not just McDonald's.

and although these things are known to be carcinogenic in extremely high doses, the concentration in food is too low to have any effect, which is why the FDA doesn't recommend against eating fried foods. This is why I posted above about radioactive foods (like bananas), which are perfectly safe to eat.

[DeleriousZ]

Originally posted by lilmira
Well you don't drink the soup unless you are white.

I usually drink most of the broth when I go for Ramen. I know it makes me look like a white boy even worse, but I don't care it's goddamn delicious.

[clem24]

Hahaha I never even knew OP had any credibility on Beyond anyway. Still, he's in for a rude awakening later on in life. I find the more you try to keep a kid away from something, the more they are going to want it. You'll see. You can lie to them now and let them get ridiculed and mocked by their peers, or teach them appropriately now and let them use proper judgment to make better decisions later on.

Hilarious on the banh mi and falafel is good for you bit while McDs is not. Just goes to show how ignorant people can get.

[Penis McNickels]

Originally posted by clem24
I find the more you try to keep a kid away from something, the more they are going to want it. You'll see.

Like sody pop?