Am I the only one put off by this oatmeal commercial?

[Anonymous]

I just saw it again, it's the one for Quaker oatmeal where a family with 4 school-age kids gets ready in the morning. Instead of eating breakfast, all four kids walk out the door (most days, it's suggested) with a hot bowl of oatmeal; then they eat their oatmeal in the car as mom drives. There's nothing in the commercial to suggest that this would be unusual, eating hot, sloppy food out of a dish with a spoon in a moving vehicle. The only "unusual" thing is that each of the kids chooses a different oatmeal flavor, OMG!!!!

I think I must be totally out of touch and old-fashioned. Do many families these days cook/prepare meals every day with the intent that everyone eats in the car? I'm not talking about hitting a drive-thru on the way to soccer practice once in a while. I mean, oh yeah, lunch is mac-n-cheese every day heading west on I-66.

[Anonymous]

OK, there's also a commercial where a SUV full of guys is driving down the highway eating Raisin Bran and milk out of cereal bowls. It must be very 20th century to eat breakfst at the table, I guess

[Anonymous]

Yeah, that's ridiculous. Although ... I saw a woman who was driving and eating what looked like oatmeal on 29, just north of the Beltway, last Thursday morning.

[Anonymous]

I have a friend whose step son is always bringing things like that into the car. He never eats at home, then grabs his breakfast and eats it in the car. He doesn't care if it requires a fork and knife.

[Anonymous]

A priest friend once told me about a family that would bring cereal WITH MILK and eat it in the pews during mass...

[Anonymous]

I saw cereal straws at the store the other day.

The "straws" were some sugary cereal in a straw shape so all you have to do is slurp up milk and eat the straw!

What has this become???

Unbelievable.

I guess I shouldn't even wonder if we are the only family that still eats dinner together...every night of the week too (even if DH works late we still sit around at the table when he comes home and watch him eat...or have a light post dinner snack)

[Anonymous]

I'm always really annoyed with those commercials portray the dads as bumbling idiots if the mom isn't around. It implicitly says that it's ok for the dad not be as involved or know how to feed their own kids!

[Anonymous]

I vaguely recall that oatmeal commercial.. didn't pay too much attention to it, but is it possible the ad was for those oatmeal squares Quaker sells? Maybe making the parallel that the squares had the same nutritional value of a bowl of oatmeal? Otherwise, I'm with you - - no way would l allow gloppy messy oatmeal in my SUV! Good grief.

[Anonymous]

Depending upon how much my kids dilly-dally in the AM, I have them eat a bowl of cereal at hte table while I load up the car. However, there are many times they eat cereal bars, dry cereal (like Chex, Mighty Bites, cheerios) or toast in the car. On the way home after picking them up from daycare they are often hungry and eat a banana on the way home. I think if someone were truly eating messy oatmeal that would be nasty and very messy.

[Anonymous]

I am WAAAAY too much of a control freak to ever let my kids eat bowls of cereal in the car. Are you kidding me? Really, how hard is it to sit them down for a few minutes at the kitchen table for cereal? I've got three in school, and I work, and I seem to do it. Sometimes, if the stars align, I even manage to scramble some eggs. I think that commercial is a riot, and totally out of touch. The commercial I really love is the one for car insurance where the agent comes to the house, and the mom answers the door with her kids going bonkers in the background. She closes the door and lets loose! Hysterical, and much more realistic IMO.

[Anonymous]

I had a similar reaction when I saw the commercials for drinkable soup. How gross. Who is drinking soup on the go?

[Anonymous]

Okay, this is a little off the beaten path but I saw a commerical the other day that to me was gross. It was a grecian formula for men. Older man with gray hair, commerial stated he was starting over, so after dying his hair he had a 20 ish year old trophy on his arm.