Anonymous wrote:TV... probably 4-5 hours total, per week. More if he's sick. I don't think TV is inherently evil, but I HATE how obsessed and sucked in he gets. He's like an addict. One episode of Zoboomafoo (or Thomas, or Mama Mirabelle - he's into animals and trains right now) and he's begging for more for the next 6 hours. I honestly might let him watch more if it didn't turn him into a TV-seeking zombie.

My DS (3.5) is the same way. He's not a kid who will play while the TV is on. He just sits in front of the TV slack-jawed. But I still have a tough time turning the TV off.

My nearly 4 yo son probably watches an hour of TV a day on weekdays. Maybe 2 hours, depending on the day. Other days (when the weather isn't craptastic) we try to go to the park or get together with friends, which might mean no TV for the day. I'm not a fan of McDs (just because it doesn't appeal to me), so we don't eat it more than once every two or three months. (normally while we're waiting at an airport or traveling) However, we go to Chick Fil A every two weeks or so. He also gets to eat a sweet (some chocolate pudding or chocolate covered sunflower seeds or a chocolate covered frozen banana; he's a chocolate lover like his momma) after dinner each night. He also eats pretty much any fruit or veggie you put in front of him, so I think a little sugar is fine.

I try to do things in some moderation, although I struggle with constant guilt over the TV. My husband is gone Monday through Friday, and I have the hardest time getting anything done without turning on the TV. I try to balance it out by reading with my son a lot and doing other interactive things, but the TV is my go to when the house is a disaster. My mom keeps telling me to get over it, as the child gets constant stimulation, but I really worry about the amount of TV I let him watch.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
And I'm so tired of people exclaiming how McDonalds is gross - and then taking their kids to get super fried food at other restaurants - where the portion sizes are out of control and the kids just sit there for an hour. At least with McDonalds, they can get apples, milk and run around. Moderation is key of course. We go about once a month - some months more, some less.

Yes, I agree. I love Big Macs once in a while but I'm not saying that you have to love McD's food. Personally, I hate Chipotle and haven't been there in YEARS because it makes my stomach sick (it's not so much the taste of the food but the way my body processes it). But I also understand that one is not really better than the other. Same with Burger King, Chick-Fil-A, Wendy's, Ruby Tuesday, TGI Friday's, etc. Each place has healthy options, each has unhealthy options.

I think that the OP's point was larger than just McD's---its about admitting how often people really use fast food places to feed their kids. If you have the time to fix healthy meals at home every day, great. But for most people, this is not realistic 100% of the time, despite what people on this forum proclaim.

DS is four months old so I don't even have a child old enough to eat anything besides breastmilk but I can tell you right now, when he gets old enough to eat real food, I will admit right now that he will without a doubt eat fast food from time to time. I am in the "everything in moderation" camp.

Point is, its not about one specific restaurant----you aren't impressing anyone with your hatred of McD's while dragging your kids into "healthy" Chipotle.

I do think you can avoid having to resort to fast food by planning, but many people, parents and nonparents, lack the discipline to plan. Their loss.

Anonymous wrote:4 year old.
1 hour of screen time a day.

I think McDonalds rocks. I admit it. On cold or super rainy days when my fridge is running bare - we go to McDonalds, get a decent lunch and play in the germ-infested tubes. Bonus - toy - for entertainment once we get home. We have found on roadtrips for that toy to be the key to entertaining my son that last stretch. Sure, sure, its crap, and eventually gets thrown out. But sometimes that one hour of play is essential to my sanity.

And I'm so tired of people exclaiming how McDonalds is gross - and then taking their kids to get super fried food at other restaurants - where the portion sizes are out of control and the kids just sit there for an hour. At least with McDonalds, they can get apples, milk and run around. Moderation is key of course. We go about once a month - some months more, some less.

I can assure you, there are those of us out there who don't do either. Ugh. We can cook it better, cheaper, and much, much healthier at our house, so we do it. I've just gotten to the point where I don't like eating outside the home anymore at all, except for maybe grabbing a salad on a busy day at work or something.

Anonymous wrote:I think you are out of touch, but in a bad way. not having a television in the house?

I have a TV in the house. Two, in fact. I don't turn it on. My other family members love it. I am out of touch with reality TV and all the crap that passes for popular culture. I was always 'out of touch' even as a teen. It's done me nothing but good.

2 year old. He's never had McDonalds (or any fast food, actually) and it never occurred to me to take him. Partly because I had food poisoning/norovirus right after eating McDonalds for dinner with my niece and nephew when I was 5 months pregnant with him and even the smell driving by a McD's, BK, or Wendy's is enough to still make me gag. I'm not opposed if my husband wants to take him once in a while, but I'm incapable of joining them. Ugh. Writing this is turning my stomach.

TV... probably 4-5 hours total, per week. More if he's sick. I don't think TV is inherently evil, but I HATE how obsessed and sucked in he gets. He's like an addict. One episode of Zoboomafoo (or Thomas, or Mama Mirabelle - he's into animals and trains right now) and he's begging for more for the next 6 hours. I honestly might let him watch more if it didn't turn him into a TV-seeking zombie.

Anonymous wrote:
And I'm so tired of people exclaiming how McDonalds is gross - and then taking their kids to get super fried food at other restaurants - where the portion sizes are out of control and the kids just sit there for an hour. At least with McDonalds, they can get apples, milk and run around. Moderation is key of course. We go about once a month - some months more, some less.

Yes, I agree. I love Big Macs once in a while but I'm not saying that you have to love McD's food. Personally, I hate Chipotle and haven't been there in YEARS because it makes my stomach sick (it's not so much the taste of the food but the way my body processes it). But I also understand that one is not really better than the other. Same with Burger King, Chick-Fil-A, Wendy's, Ruby Tuesday, TGI Friday's, etc. Each place has healthy options, each has unhealthy options.

I think that the OP's point was larger than just McD's---its about admitting how often people really use fast food places to feed their kids. If you have the time to fix healthy meals at home every day, great. But for most people, this is not realistic 100% of the time, despite what people on this forum proclaim.

DS is four months old so I don't even have a child old enough to eat anything besides breastmilk but I can tell you right now, when he gets old enough to eat real food, I will admit right now that he will without a doubt eat fast food from time to time. I am in the "everything in moderation" camp.

Point is, its not about one specific restaurant----you aren't impressing anyone with your hatred of McD's while dragging your kids into "healthy" Chipotle.

Kids are 7 and 10. No tv at all during week (sun night - fri after school). TV only goes on after they go to bed. TV on weekend is pretty much whatever - couple hours of morning shows unless they have an early game (basketball, soccer, lacrosse, whatever the season) and a movie at night with us or a babysitter/the au pair. That is it for tv.

McDonald's is probably 1x month, maybe less. Its used for convenience mostly - when we dont have time to get something better or are traveling by car some where far (3+ hours away). Once in a blue moon we will do a drive through just for a treat, like fries or a smoothy.

This is the absolute 100% truth and it the same thing I tell my friends although I may down play McDs a bit as I think any McDs is bad.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:dad here. my wife doesn't get McDonalds for my 3 year old daughter but I get her a hamburger there at least twice a week. She loves it. I think McDonalds is way better now than in the past - they have smoothies, oatmeal, all kinds of good stuff.

tv - at least 45 minutes to an hour a day. Dora or Wonderpets or something like that. Seems educational to me.

Get ready for a teenager who cares about nothing beyond brand names, boy bands and suburban shopping malls. You're raising a real intellectual.

have to say this was one of the ruder and dumber posts I've seen in a while.

4 year old.
1 hour of screen time a day.

I think McDonalds rocks. I admit it. On cold or super rainy days when my fridge is running bare - we go to McDonalds, get a decent lunch and play in the germ-infested tubes. Bonus - toy - for entertainment once we get home. We have found on roadtrips for that toy to be the key to entertaining my son that last stretch. Sure, sure, its crap, and eventually gets thrown out. But sometimes that one hour of play is essential to my sanity.

And I'm so tired of people exclaiming how McDonalds is gross - and then taking their kids to get super fried food at other restaurants - where the portion sizes are out of control and the kids just sit there for an hour. At least with McDonalds, they can get apples, milk and run around. Moderation is key of course. We go about once a month - some months more, some less.

As someone who has kids in high school and in college, I can tell you that you are doing the right thing. The kids that grew up with all kinds of restrictions on television, fast food, etc... are the ones that really having a hard time in high school and college. It's like they go freakin' nuts when they finally have the freedom to make choices. It's not just fast food (although that is part of it) it's alcohol, partying, dating...... These are the kids that have no concept of moderation. And their parents can't figure out what they did wrong. They truly believed they were the "good parents".

I have seen this SO many times, also. I was the youngest of 3 children. Growing up, after the age of 13-14 or so, my parents didn't mind if I had a sip of wine cooler or a taste of Aunt Jan's margarita. By the time I hit high school, so many kids were sneaking off to alcohol parties, but I had no interest. There was no forbidden thrill. By college, I was one of the few freshmen that didn't go out and get drunk almost every weekend. I went to parties, I went out with my friends and all, but I was just over the alcohol thing.

Now, fast food is a different story. My mom was crazy strict about McDs, and I went hog wild when I went off to college. I got myself some McDs fries probably once a week for months, until I couldn't button up my pants anymore. That pretty much cured me of my french fry binge.

I see the same thing in kids these days. It isn't about forbidding your kids from doing certain things. It is about giving them the tools necessary to make good choices.

I think you are out of touch, but in a bad way. not having a television in the house?

NP. This thread makes me wonder what our children will say about this when they are our age.

My mom was one of the strictest among my friends' parents, especially about food. No sugary snacks after school. Our big treats were soda and Kraft mac n cheese when we had a babysitter-- but we had to split one can of Coke and one box of Kraft three ways between my brother, sister, and me! We could occasionally have a piece of gum-- a little piece of Trident split two ways, even when we were older. We never ate out, except for on family road trip vacations. My parents both grew up on farms so we always ate home-cooked meals freshly prepared.

That said, we drank a ton of Kool-Aid, which was de rigeur back in the 1970s suburbs. We also had bologna sandwiches with mayo on Wonder bread in our lunch boxes and home baked dessert after dinner every night-- cookies, pies, cakes, etc.

Anonymous wrote:"I'm sure you mean "out of touch" in a good way. The average family is also overweight and has less than $25,000 saved from retirement. I'm thrilled to be "out of touch" with the mainstream in the US. We're also much better formally educated. "

Do tell. What is "$25,000 saved from retirement"?

Are you really not bright enough to discern a typo? Or do you just prefer silly over thoughtful debate?

Look people, it's possible for a child to grow up without fast food and be normal. I promise. I'm the one who said I'm against McDonald's as a corporation and I love how people are telling me Starbucks and Chipotle are no worse. First of all, I've never eaten at Chipotle, and second, having a chai latte or a cup of coffee from Starbucks is not the same as eating a hamburger from McDonald's.

I am against McDonald's because of how they have changed farming practices in this country. As the largest purchaser of meat, they really created industrial farming or at least greatly contributed to it. All of our meat comes from four main factories, and if you think the steak you order at a nice restaurant is any different from the quality of meat at McDonald's you are fooling yourself. Not to mention, it is full of crap and sodium, and it is so processed it does decompose. YUM.

I'm a food snob, and we don't eat very much meat, and the meat we do eat is from a few particular sources. I never at McDonald's as a kid so why would I start when I have kids? My kids eat junk food. We eat cake, ice cream, cookies, in moderation etc. but that to me is very different than eating a fast food meal. This is how I grew up and my husband too - it wasn't weird, we just didn't go to McDonald's as a family very often.

It's sad that eating dinner at home is considered weird or abnormal.