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I completely, completely agree with you. I also grew up with a mix of eating disorders and would like to make food fun and, more importantly, not a big issue for my kids. Moderation is key: When my son asks for ice cream first thing in the morning of course I remind him that morning is breakfast time, but I also tell him that he can have ice cream later in the afternoon, as he usually does. My son eats lots of different foods, he likes fresh fruits and dairy and fish and meat and veggies, and yes, he loves sweets. So do I.
posted by : sweettoothfairy on 6/11/2009 at 3:39 AM Flag For Abuse
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Amen! I was the little girl who went apeshit over everyone else's "junk food drawers" when I was on playdates. My 17m old eats everything in moderation. When she asks for more she gets it, but usually she would rather go back and play after a few bites. I wish I had such a healthy relationship with food!
posted by : GGsmama on 6/11/2009 at 4:35 AM Flag For Abuse
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Building a junk free life for you kid necessarily involves lying? Feeding your child only healthy food will make them less interesting, promote bad eating habits, and set them up for an eating disorder? What nonsense! It is quite possible to ensure that your child never eats anything unhealthy in your home without lying and without ending up with a boring, binge-eater with a food complex!
Why is it so hard for people to just admit that eating junk food is not the major issue the media wants us to think it is? There's no need to point fingers at the kids who are fed only healthy things and claim there's something inherently wrong with such an upbringing. Anecdotal evidence is not enough for such broad generalizations and, frankly, I find it offensive. Feed your kid all the cake he wants, give him fast food for breakfast, and rationalize it anyway you'd like---you might even be completely correct about your child not being harmed by such an upbringing. But why does your own justification for how you raise your child have to include sniping at other children's upbringing?
posted by : Morgan on 6/11/2009 at 5:53 AM Flag For Abuse
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Our family walks this same dark side to some extent. We always have cookies and candy around, and my older child ate raisin toast with cinnamon sugar (and lots of it!) for breakfast every single day for nearly two straight years. My only quibble with this article (and I know it's exaggerated to some extent, but still) is the strict dichotomy that's seemingly drawn between people who eat only healthy-but-yucky food and people who eat unhealthy-but-yummy food. Frankly, I *like* kale. There's a whole foods supermarket around here that sells kale barely steamed with sesame dressing, and it's really, really good. I love asparagus and apples and fresh berries and, yeah, even tofu, when it's prepared well. I may wash them down with a big slug of Diet Coke and follow the meal up with some chocolate ice cream, but there's room for both. I think it's silly to teach kids that sugary food is bad and wrong, but I also think it's silly to teach them that vegetables are something people only eat when they're being dutiful.
posted by : Elizabeth Reid on 6/11/2009 at 8:37 AM Flag For Abuse
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Sure, cake and ice cream are fine and people should calm down ... but I also think you're overstating the healthy vs. junk dichotomy. Whatever happened to moderation? And why is choosing shrimp over a cookie a lie? I honestly really like shrimp, and would often choose it over a cookie. If it's a lie to you then that's because you're letting your own bad attitudes about food get in the way. (I'm constantly reminding myself that just because I like or don't like something doesn't mean my daughter will, and I need to try not to pass on any prejudices I might have. That's how I ended up with a pea-loving, banana-hating toddler.) Also, I've known a couple guys who had pretty serious anorexia in high school, so don't assume your son's off the hook. Eating disorders have been on the rise among boys for years, now.
posted by : moominmama on 6/11/2009 at 9:29 AM Flag For Abuse
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I find myself reading these Bad Parent articles despite myself. Each one is exaggerated and self-righteous. The very first one was hands-down the best.
Now its all written according to a formula. TV is good. Sugar is good. I love my husband more than my kids. I am so happy that my kids hate each other. Garbage.
posted by : Jojo44 on 6/11/2009 at 11:49 AM Flag For Abuse
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HAH! I love it when parents manage to frame it so other children are always annoying or a bore or something else unpleasant. Yes, your son is the most amazing boy that was ever born. Move over Jesus, there's a new christ child in town. And it’s all because you let him eat cake!
What does being fun, inventive and original have to do with loving junk food and not eating brown rice? Next you’ll be telling us cake makes your boy smarter too!
Are we actually going to start slamming parents who make healthy snacks? Seriously? What’s next, parents who insist on regular baths and winter hats? I can just see it. Bad Parent: My child never bathes and I don’ t see why he should. (I didn’t just give the editors any ideas did I?)
posted by : JellybeanJen on 6/11/2009 at 12:02 PM Flag For Abuse
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Speaking as someone who was brought up in a basically sugar-free house: when I got to college, I went INSANE eating ice cream and drinking soda with every meal. I never learned moderation because I wasn't taught it as a child. As an adult, I still struggle with the ability to avoid binging on junk food whenever it's available, and as a result, I struggle with my weight because sugar and grease carry the message for me, "Eat as much as you can, quick, or someone will take it away!"
As little as some people apparently want to hear what the author has to say (and she does overstate the message a bit!), she's right - if you restrict your child's eating too much, you may wind up with a slender child, but they'll grow up to be an adult with eating issues. Might not be a full-blown eating disorder, but still. Your job as parents is to raise happy, healthy kids who become happy, healthy adults, and over-the-top health-nuttiness doesn't result in happy, healthy adults. Let them eat cake.
posted by : Bunny 2 on 6/11/2009 at 12:26 PM Flag For Abuse
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So much of this rang true for me. The author did frame the differences between her and other parents as more black-and-white than reality ever is -- heck, she's only got about, what, 1,000 words? But it's that semi-embarrassed, semi-righteous tone -- "We really never give them sugar!" -- that I hear so often, sometimes from my own mouth. We're so afraid of being judged that some of us react by conforming to whatever's around us and some of us get a little more in-your-face.
I remember a party where two other mothers were discussing their children's diets in dire tones: "Do you DO whole grains?" I got up to get another drink because, really, in my family we DO food. What I desperately want for my son and daughter is for food to be no big deal. Fuel.
posted by : MNmama on 6/11/2009 at 2:36 PM Flag For Abuse
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While I am with you on the basics, I believe teaching moderation is key not 100% available or 100% denial. One thing you said struck me; "I feel lucky I have a boy, who won’t have to face the same kind of love/hate relationship with his size and shape" I so wish this were true. This is another area where (imho) females "have it easier". Men/boys today have all the pressure that women/girls do BUT none of the support. Boys today are supposed to be athletic, smart, sensitive, funny, as well as strong, resilient and self-reliant. Women are "allowed" to have self-image problems. Men just aren't allowed.... that doesn't mean they don't. Parents watch out for this in their girls and assume their boys are going to be fine. Unfortunately for the boys they end up "dealing" alone.
Just saying... don't assume anything when it comes to your kids :)
posted by : Boys mom on 6/11/2009 at 2:56 PM Flag For Abuse
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What has the world come to? I have a 29 year old son and a 16 year old son and I have always made home cooked meals because I love to cook! We also love fruit - right now you can find blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, cantaloupe, honeydew and watermellon all cleaned and cut up in the fridge, pears, apples, banana and oranges on the counter - talk about sweet!
We hardly ever ate out at a fast food hamburger joint unless my kids asked if they could have it (usually because on of their friends has just been there and got a special toy) and I would bring them.
I have cookie mix, brownie mix and ice cream in the house at all times.When my kids asked for a sweet treat we'd cook up a quick batch ... I never said they couldn't have anything - well except soda (that was only allowed when we went out to dinner - they could order whatever they wanted to drink) .
When we went to the movies it was some candy, pop corn and a soda. Basically I kept the fast food and sweets out of the house - they were treats while away from home.
If we were at a party we had limits but they could have pretty much what they wanted within reason (no tummy aches please) - they would ask and I would usually say yes unless they had already eaten a huge amount.
Let kids be kids, don't stop them from having anything...just do it in moderation. Just because you don't like sweets (I don't) doesn't mean your kids shouldn't be able to enjoy them and on the flip side just because you like tofu doesn't mean your kids should have to eat it. Let kids be kids they grow up so fast in this world we live in. When I was young we were a large family and only my dad worked so money was tight in the summer we would all go out for ice cream on Sunday night and when we visited our grandmother she would give us 25 cents to go to the penny candy store up the street - they are wonderful memories! Make treats a memory moment for your kids and not a stress out no your the only kids at this party that can't have any cake ...and he bring along a tofu burger...
posted by : sick and tired on 6/11/2009 at 3:04 PM Flag For Abuse
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I'd pick shrimp over cookies any day of the week. Just because it's healthy doesn't mean it isn't fun or tasty or a treat. We also eat a lot of brown rice and kale. We LIKE it. It isn't puritanical and my kids aren't bores. Feed your kid whatever you want. I honestly do not care. But don't insult me for prioritizing healthy eating in my own maternal juggling act.
posted by : Shannon LC Cate on 6/11/2009 at 3:06 PM Flag For Abuse
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The author is right on with this article. And, though it does set up a stark dichotomy between junkies and healthies which certainly does not need to be so, she is right that preventing kids from eating the bad stuff (which tastes...oh, so good!) means they aren't getting the full spectrum of foods they should.
I never got sugar cereals and sweets as a kid and as a result as an adult I have a mouthful of cavities from eating Swedish fish and Crunch Berries (thankfully, otherwise I am very healthy). I give our 5 year old treats regularly, but they never replace good, healthy food that we make for him ourselves.
The key is moderation. Big Macs and McNuggets are delicious! They can easily be a part of your kid's diet, just make sure you're watching their weight and health and make adjustments accordingly.
A tofu-carob cake? Pathetic...I feel sorry for that kid.
Kale? We used to feed that to our 5 foot long iguana...even he didn't enjoy it.
Yup, let them eat cake.
posted by : mrb1 on 6/11/2009 at 3:07 PM Flag For Abuse
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Thank you for being honest and realistic. If only other moms and parents were open about what really goes on in their households and with their kids...we'd all be a lot less competitive and a lot more satisfied we were raising our kids right.
posted by : Erin Walsh on 6/11/2009 at 3:41 PM Flag For Abuse
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Right on. This series should be renamed to "real parent" though, not "bad parent".
Maybe I'm lucky because so far my toddler seems uninterested in most sweets besides ice cream. We recently thought to encourage her potty training efforts with rewards of M&Ms. Receiving the bright blue orb, she looked with confusion on our cheerful faces and handed the gift back to her father.
She eats vegetable dumplings and adores Brussels sprouts.
But she also loves ice cream. And so do I.
On a recent playdate at the playground, our party of 4 parents and 2 toddlers bought a total of 6 cones from Mr. Softee. One extra was to replace Alex's cone that got knocked down by a big kid. One was because of sharing confusion. It doesn't matter. All that icecream and the guilt-free joy that went with it just confirmed in my mind and my husband's mind that we'd chosen the right family to spend our Saturday afternoon with, a family that like us tries to give our kid heathy choices more often than not, but that appreciates the pleasure of a softcone on a hot day.
posted by : Imama on 6/11/2009 at 3:41 PM Flag For Abuse
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PS We grew up in a super-health food world. One in which my brother's kindergarden teacher had the class make fish cakes (heart-shaped at least?) for Valentine's day. While it was noble (sort of) to go against the commercial sugar parade common in most classrooms, what that well-meaning teacher was really giving them is a story that makes us wince and laugh all these years later.
I like the attitude my daughter's day care has for birthdays: all parents get to bring cupcakes. Period. No rising competition, no more junk. But a genuine treat for the kids on their special day.
posted by : Imama on 6/11/2009 at 3:45 PM Flag For Abuse
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What Elizabeth Reid said.
Plus! You never know if shrimp/cookie Dad had already watched his kids eat sugar-laden snacks that same day and the day before that and the day before that. Maybe he went to a park playdate that morning where friends brought an entire loaf of banana bread, chips, cookies, sad brown apple slices, two bags of pretzels stuffed with peanut butter and one of the mother's Weight Watchers books. And in trying not to be a well-mannered bore, he said "yes! yes! a thousand calories yes!" And then, at the afternoon birthday party thought, "hey, little dude, let's give your sugar-shocked kidneys a break and maybe snack on some shrimp.
Can you tell I've been there?
posted by : Madeline Holler on 6/11/2009 at 4:12 PM Flag For Abuse
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Formulaic writing.
posted by : omma on 6/11/2009 at 4:25 PM Flag For Abuse
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I have a friend who is one of the no junk, only organic nut butter, dried fruit for treat, people. Her kids saw us eating popcorn once and nearly knocked us down to get it. They were like savage animals. Over popcorn. Don't tell me those kids are not going to have massive issues when they grow up.
Our rule? On birthdays, holidays, parties - etc - she can eat what she wants. If that's an entire bowl of cheetoes - fine. Cake? Stuff yourself, baby. It's one freakin' day. She had chocolate for breakfast on Christmas.
I think the fact that on special days I'm not all up in her grill over the junk food means that she doesn't complain that the rest of the time we eat normal healthy food. There is nothing sadder than a child at a birthday party being steered away from the potato chips.
posted by : me4 on 6/11/2009 at 4:31 PM Flag For Abuse
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Your assumption that your boy won't have body image issues is dangerously misguided. As a man who has struggled his entire life with body image issues (including my belief all my childhood that I was a fat kid, based on relentless teasing and parental disapproval, yet photographic evidence from that period of my life shows me as being perfectly normal) I cannot emphasize enough how frightening that assumption is.
Because nearly everyone in my life, including my overweight father, considered me defective because I had a chubby face and wasn't as athletic as my brothers, I didn't really have the tools to deal with my frustrations. So, absent a proper outlet, I tended to beat the crap out of my rail-thin younger brother on a regular basis.
I applaud your non-extremist attitude towards food choices, and I think that letting you child eat junk food is perfectly fine, as long as he doesn't consume so much that it becomes his only concept of what food should be.
However, don't delude yourself into thinking that he won't suffer from body image issues.
Women are addicted to the fantasy that males are less complicated than females. Nothing could be further from the truth.
posted by : Dan Hagerty on 6/11/2009 at 5:21 PM Flag For Abuse
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I like the thoughts on your choices, but the slam at the healthy food parents was a bit silly. No, their kids will not necessarily grow up lunging at junk any more than yours is doomed to obesity or sure to turn out vegan. Peace :)
posted by : Shan on 6/11/2009 at 6:28 PM Flag For Abuse
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yawn. honestly, this "bad parent" thing is getting annoying. seems to me that you're projecting your own food issues onto your kid. then he's the one who'll have to suffer the consequences: diabetes, obesity, etc. Those are real problems. I think I read that 1 in 4 kids have diabetes now. This is not a black and white issue. One can indulge in treats regularly, but in moderation and be perfectly healthy. I'm getting tired of parents gloating about their "bad" choices as if we should look up to them for it. This kind of attitude is narrow-minded and resistant to positive change.
posted by : tiredofbadparents on 6/11/2009 at 6:54 PM Flag For Abuse
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so...
junk food makes you a fun person and
healthy food makes you a boring person?
really?
don't you think THIS is the message that screws people up?
healthy food does not equal just brown rice and kale and raw carrots.
i would suggest taking a cooking class.
or buying some cool and FUN cookbooks :)
there is a WORLD of amazing food out there that doesn't involve munching on a plain apple slices (but what's so bad about that anyway? apples = yum!)
have people forgot how to cook?
cooking in your kitchen with your children can be totally fun!
posted by : ana voog on 6/11/2009 at 6:55 PM Flag For Abuse
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I agree as well. I enjoy eating all kinds of foods, and those include junk foods. I also love fruits and veggies, too. My daughter is the same way (though slightly more picky than I am).
I actually had to hide the corn one night at dinner because she wouldn't eat anything else. And I do try to give her healthy things everyday, taking things from each food group. but how can i tell her she cant have junk food when i eat it?
I also try to buy things that taste like junk food, but arent. Like motts fruit snacks made with apple sauce and real fruit juice. thats so that when she asks for more, and she will, i feel okay giving it to her.
however i do have to tell her no when she asks for things. she has shoved an entire twizzler into her mouth before... after that we stopped eating twizzlers. Other than that she loves hot dogs, Mcnuggets, french fries, pizza, and quite a few other things that she probably shouldnt eat.
posted by : Rebecca Soucy on 6/11/2009 at 8:56 PM Flag For Abuse
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Eh, she had to throw in that nasty last line, otherwise she would have gotten three or four "yeah me too" comments and maybe one lecture from a sanctimommy and that would have been the end of it. The job of Bad Parent writers is to generate site hits via comments, preferably with long back-and-forth arguments.
I'm sick of the whole silly "Bad Parent" thing too, but one in four kids do not have diabetes. Not even close.
posted by : FactCheck on 6/11/2009 at 9:12 PM Flag For Abuse
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Like a few other posters I agree in some respect with what the author is saying, but does she have to be so rude in saying it... It is a struggle most families recognize, but just because you want your child to eat mostly healthy food does not mean they are going to be a great big bore. Trust me, anyone who has spent anytime with my kids would definitely not use that as a descriptor. I let my children have junk occassionally - but I want them to know what real food tastes like and to appreciate the wide variety available to them. Yes, I use brown rice, lentils, cannelini beans and tofu to some degree - but its usually in soups and curries where they wont dig it out and hold it up with contempt. I also have a child who has life threatening allergies - he simply cannot indulge himself in whatever catches his fancy and whatever is easiest for me to toss at him. He is thrilled to get a handful of chocolate chips while other kids pig out on cake and ice cream. I was raised on Kraft dinner and Cheez Whiz but I cringe at the sight of those things - I can make a very nice cheese pasta in the same amount of time and it does not come in a vibrant orange colour. I like real food - I think that people who eat a lot of processed ready-made food are ignorant and lazy and lacking in imagination. How is that for right back at you.
posted by : Realfoodformeplease on 6/11/2009 at 10:26 PM Flag For Abuse
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The healthiest eating mama I know is a working single mama, so that's not the reason for the junk food binges.
The biggest trend I see in these bad parent articles is what someone pointed out upthread, the author's inability to separate herself and her own issues from their children. How does their clothing reflect on me? How do I best project my eating issues/daddy issues/social status worries onto my kid? Gah. And believing that your child exists just to reflect well on you, well, that is bad parenting. And so is the belief that what you eat/wear/listen to defines how interesting you are as a person.
posted by : ann05 on 6/11/2009 at 11:46 PM Flag For Abuse
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Let's talk about the definitions in this article. When did homemade French toast become junk food? There truly are some products that are so over-the-top artificial and sugary that they really are junk food, but I'm not going to stick French toast or even a normal homemade cake or cookie among them. Years ago I remember seeing a very thin middle school teacher talk about a "health" lesson she'd given her class. They'd rubbed roasted peanuts in a circle on a napkin and seen the greasy residue left behind. Apparently that was supposed to show these poor children that peanuts - peanuts! - were unhealthy. Defining normal foods as junk just seems like another symptom of our society's distorted relationship with food. This is one case in which I wish we could be a little more like the French or the Italians.
posted by : anon on 6/12/2009 at 4:02 AM Flag For Abuse
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Slightly off topic, but I LOVE KALE. It is so delicious (when prepared correctly) and seriously, if you hate Kale and live on the East Coast, you should visit the Yabba Pot in Baltimore and order the Live Kale Salad. It is life-changing. Sorry to interrupt the regularly scheduled comments...just had to defend my beloved Kale.
posted by : MomofBeans on 6/12/2009 at 7:04 AM Flag For Abuse
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AMEN SISTER!!!!!
posted by : Melissa Andrews on 6/12/2009 at 8:54 AM Flag For Abuse
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It seems like every one of these "Bad Parent" articles is ridden with comments from readers who can't stand these pieces and feel it necessary to say so. My question to those people is, why bother reading these, then? I'm not trying to be snarky, I'm geniunely curious as to why you would read something you don't enjoy and then take the time to post a comment saying so? I ask because I do enjoy reading these pieces whether I agree with them or not. I like them because they do make me think. I also enjoy reading the comments and occasionally participating in the back and forth debate. For the sake of those of us who do like these articles and want to discuss them in earnest, please consider not filling up the space on these boards with comments solely about how you're not going to read these pieces anymore.
posted by : why on 6/12/2009 at 3:35 PM Flag For Abuse
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"Could I pull a lie like that over on my son? That shrimp is a viable
choice over a chocolate chip cookie? Surely my kid is going to be
smarter than that."
Why would that have to be a lie? I will always choose shrimp over cookies, because that's what tastes good to me. I see nothing wrong with children experiencing the pleasure of real ice cream and cake in moderation, but to make the connection that feeding kids healthy food makes them uptight, etc., is ridiculous. This whole essay is just silly.
posted by : Manjari on 6/12/2009 at 4:09 PM Flag For Abuse
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In our society, crappy, over-processed food surrounds us making North Americans the most obese on the planet. Young children raised on fatty, sugary foods tend to gravitate towards these as adults leading to lifelong patterns of poor eating habits and the health problems associated with it. Who are you trying to convince when you come out swinging at folks who try to swim against this tide and teach their children a healthier way to treat their bodies then to just go with the popular culture and submit yourself to high sodium, saturated fats, artificial colours and refined sugars. I do not buy the *I do not have the time* argument - real food can be made fast and easily - you just have to take the time to educate yourself and commit to it. Why would you not want to feed your children with foods that would give them the best opportunities in life - priming their immune systems, enriching their brain capacity, enhancing their abilities to concentrate, etc. Toss a can of salmon into the pasta, use fresh tomatoes, toss blueberries on the cereal. So many simple, easy fast ways to boost your childs nutrition. I think it is a crime the way people justify their lousy food habits and then sit back and say, oh, well, everyone does it, I was raised on this, I turned out okay, etc. We absolutely have to change the way we think about food and start getting back to being real. Ms. Nan, you are better than that and you know it. Stop feeding crap to your child and your audience.
posted by : Realfoodformeplease on 6/12/2009 at 10:53 PM Flag For Abuse
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One argument for feeding more nutritious food would be an economic one - I find that kale is one of the best deals around on vegetables, and bulk foods like oats and rice are also so much less expensive than pre-made foods or sodas or otherwise.
Another argument for not feeding sugary foods is one of history - this is the first time in our history that so many people have had such easy access to junk food and sugar. We don't know the consequences yet of feeding our kids so much of this stuff.
posted by : another working mom on 6/13/2009 at 3:12 PM Flag For Abuse
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La Leche League leaders told me (holding my first precious son) "a variety of foods, in as close to their natural state as possible" - it's a pretty good rule. Doesn't rule out cheezies if that's all you can grab on a roadtrip :) - but gets you back on track pretty easily once you get where you're going.
this, from a mom whose mom fed her Dairy Queen ice cream on the way home from the hospital (yeah, that's right - i was a couple of days old when i first had DQ) "It was so cute to see you suck that little curl off the top of the ice cream cone!"...
posted by : mamazee73 on 6/13/2009 at 7:22 PM Flag For Abuse
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How 'bout we just whip up a batch of shrimp cookies? Everyone wins.
posted by : JessicaMama on 6/13/2009 at 10:53 PM Flag For Abuse
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Shrimp cookies! Ha ha ha!!!!
posted by : IHeartJessicaMama on 6/15/2009 at 4:24 PM Flag For Abuse
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Why,I have no idea, it's like an addiction. I hate these articles, but I keep reading them and then writing about why I hate them. I think it's because in real life I don't get a chance to meet the mythical judgmental moms that this site and other media keep telling me I'm fighting with. In real life, my guess is most of the people on here get along just fine, because we're all too busy making our own choices and having our own troubles to be judgmental of the non-tv watching woman at the playground (who by the way we may need to ask to watch our kid while we take the other one to the potty), or the one who so nicely shares her organic carrots because we forgot to bring a snack for our 2-year-old (who would rather have a cookie). Maybe in real life we see the crazy woman who tries to work and also take care of her kid with no childcare, but she looks so damn tired that we can't bear to think badly of her, but online, she and everyone else lets it all out. We can vent all our insecurities at each other with no ill effects.
Or maybe we think if we keep complaining enough someone will listen and put up some better content!
posted by : maybe on 6/15/2009 at 11:30 PM Flag For Abuse
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good for you! i have two grown daughters, and we made the mistake of falling into the competitive no sugar-no refined carbs-no meat regimen when they were babies (it was the sugar-is-white-death 70s).
as soon as they were old enough to venture out into the world, it was katie bar the door when it came to food. Both now struggle with weight problems.
If you make food into an issue, trust me, it becomes one that lasts a lifetime.
I've learned that allowing kids to eat birthday cake, cookies and candy in moderation and without making it a big deal results in adults who don't have to preceive junk food as forbidden fruit.
posted by : Grendel on 6/16/2009 at 9:17 AM Flag For Abuse
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I was a true granola baby way ahead of my time, brought up on a macrobiotic diet with the raison oatmeal birthday cakes and whole wheat sprout sandwiches in the school lunch bag (actually an oversized and much used grocery bag). How I dreamed of sitting at the lunch table and opening a small brown paper bag overflowing with balogne sandwiches on white, twinkies and cool aid. Sleep-overs at friend's houses were absolute heaven as we gorged on fish sticks and rice crispy bars. My sisters and I regularly pilfered loose change from the sofa so as to sneak down to the corner store for any and all artificially flavored and colored delights. We now have an obsession with all that is sugared. Did it ruin my life? No. Do I have an eating disorder beyond a true appreciation of Haagen Daz? Not at all. Am I now a health freak? No way! My mantra is enjoy food and be happy. My kids eat junk, but they also eat a ton of fruits and veggies. They are 1 and 3 and enjoy steamed mussels, pate, sushi, broccoli as much as french fries and pudding. I say, let them eat cake!
posted by : cakeeater on 6/16/2009 at 3:23 PM Flag For Abuse
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I think the "bad parent" thing is just sorta inherently flawed as a concept for the simple fact that the authors of these confessionals are all professional writers whose bios appear at the bottom of the page. Isn't part of being a truly bad parent being unaccountable?
Still, I do like reading the articles, and I totally related to this one. My mom was a health nut and very controlling about what we ate and I look back at my childhood and remember that I always felt hungry and sort of like I was being punished. I want to teach my son that all kinds of foods are delicious, and that includes veggies, fruits, ice cream, and the occasional happy meal.
posted by : legume on 6/16/2009 at 4:09 PM Flag For Abuse
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FactCheck on 6/11/2009 at 9:12 PM Flag "I like real food - I think that people who eat a lot of processed
ready-made food are ignorant and lazy and lacking in imagination. How
is that for right back at you."
Wow---I've only read a few of these articles and I don't see where the "bad parent" comes in. Where does plain old common sense figure? As long as you're feeding your child a balanced diet of healthy food, the "bad" food isn't bad.
Many, many people (I'd guess a median age of forty-five and under) never learned to cook. Never learned about good vs. bad food. They were born in the era of "convenience" food and that is what is good to them even now. Most do know about the food pyramid and "square" meals. There have been whole generations raised on hot dogs and bright orange mac-n-cheese. I still love a good hot dog and always make my own Mac...it doesn't make anyone else wrong and worthy of name-calling. And fresh isn't always affordable. Many times it much cheaper to buy (i.e) canned tomatoes or green beans. A box of orangeronni is much, much cheaper than making it from scratch.
Give people a break on time and money. Not everyone has much of either.
posted by : sheillks on 6/19/2009 at 4:02 AM Flag For Abuse
