I was just watching HLN news regarding a California county hoping to ban toys being offered in kids' meals at fast food restaurants....
At one point, the president of the group said that they want to also help the parents whose children keep 'pestering' them for the toys.
Well heck - then I want all toy ads to be removed from television, magazines, newspapers, flyers, etc please! My kids pester me all the time. It would be so much easier if all toy ads were banned completely so I would not have to listen to my kids whine, and then I wouldn't have to give in to them and drag them to the mall, McDonald's, Walmart, etc. That would really make my life much much easier, so please ban all toy ads!
Oh and don't forget banning the toy section of the Sears Christmas Wish Book. Gosh I hate that damn catalog! It causes me so much stress and torture. It's not just kids eating fatty foods just to get the Toy Of The Week, they pester about toys all the time and it is costing me a lot of money to end their whining by rewarding them with a toy. Sheesh! Please help stop the madness of toy advertising!
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In all seriousness, perhaps the toys are a draw - but I assume restaurants in the US are like the ones in my city... you can JUST BUY THE TOY! If completing their Star Wars collection or sponge bob or barbie or whatever the heck toys are out at any given time, you can just walk in the door and pay a buck, buck-fifty, two-fifty, etc and walk back out the door with the toy, and not the fatty meal. My mom just bought my daughter 2 ICarly toys from McDonald's last week in fact and my kid did not have to put a single bite of greasy chicken nugget in her mouth to get it.
Do you really think that's going to stop parents from feeding their kids a cheap fast meal on Friday nights? COME ON! The group trying to ban these toys is acting like the toys are the main draw - I'm not sure about that. I've looked after little kids for over 20 years and half the ones I have met want the burger and fries and don't play with the toys more than 5 seconds. And the rest of the kids I know don't even actually like the food, won't finish the meal, but that's what mom or dad grabbed on the way home because it was faster and cheaper than cooking a wholesome meal themselves. So - is it the toy? Or is it the parents? Hmmmm..... Who/What is making our kids so tubby today?
What is the matter with these parents. I don't know about you, but I did not allow my children to "pester me" too much, so they did not. They learned very early that pestering and whining were ineffective. This happens when parents say no or not now, but do not have a reason or another option, and then give in to pestering. Children also have to learn that advertising is not always what it seems and that there is a right time for buying treats or toys. These are the same people who ban smoking in open air parking garages. There is only one correct lifestyle.
ReplyDeleteThey don't call it Killjoyfornia for nothing, do they!
ReplyDeleteL - my kids have learned that pestering gets them nothing and actually makes them lose something else they already have lol (computer time, fave toy, etc). I remember my mom giving in to my brother and I all the time and I only learned to throw a bigger tantrum the next time she said no. I decided that was an exhausting way to parent lol, and my older kids know that. My youngest is 2 so we are right in the middle of 'no-pestering-allowed' training with him... boy it's fun lol. But it's necessary!
ReplyDeleteI know a lot of kids who are overweight, more than I knew when I was a kid, but it's not the toys! I have kids at daycare who get sent total crap for lunch almost every day. Cans of alphagetti are the most common - and not often the ones with special character shapes either (Dora, etc). It's ravioli or canned spaghetti or old fashioned alphagettis. Or 'home baked' chicken nuggets and fries. Then a bag of chips or a high-sugar 'granola bar' for a snack. We always end up supplementing at least half the kids' meals with milk and fruit or veggies. Last time I checked, you don't get a toy in a can of Chef Boyardee (ewwww lol)... so is it the toys making kids fat, or their parent's choice of 'nutrition'. We spend a great deal on groceries every month, it makes my eyes cross sometimes lol, but they have veggies, fruit, meat, etc every day for supper. I work every day, my bf works full time, I juggle around 2 kids and sports will be starting soon to add to my headaches - but I don't want to crap out with cheap meaningless food that will do nothing for their little bodies except make them unhealthy and/or overweight. McDonald's and other places like that are a treat from time to time,,, i can't even remember the last time I took them there lol. My mom picks up toys that she thinks are cute and they can collect but just that - the toys. Occasionally she takes the older ones out for a meal but maybe once a month at best and they eat great the rest of the time.
Anyway I get tired of all these changes just because *some* people do not feed their children properly. Making everyone conform for the crimes of a few is getting really aggravating.