The posters making the slippery slope argument are cracking me up. I'm guessing they have very small babies (if they have kids at all) and haven't yet witnessed the amazing ability of children to grow and become rational people.

Can you tell a 14-month-old about the "no food on metro" rule and expect him to be ok with it? Maybe a few. Most kids that age are all id. Four year olds now... they love rules. My big struggle these days is preventing my preschooler from loudly pointing out all the rule breakers she sees around us. She would never dream of asking for a snack on metro. That's parenting, folks. *takes bow*

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feed my toddler goldfish because I want him to grow up to rob banks.

Maybe we should hang out. It'll save your kid the trouble of recruiting a gang if he hangs out with my maladjusted goldfish eating kids.

I'll add a third Goldfish-eating kid; now they've got critical mass toward a gang!

And herein lies the problem...

What problem? Too much childhood happiness? I know, it's awful. But you keep fighting the good fight, PP, making sure your kids eat their rutabaga chips. We'll muddle on without you somehow.

If Goldfish crackers are what makes your child happy, I feel sorry for him/ her....

Godwin's Law (DCUM corrollary) violation! You lose!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feed my toddler goldfish because I want him to grow up to rob banks.

Maybe we should hang out. It'll save your kid the trouble of recruiting a gang if he hangs out with my maladjusted goldfish eating kids.

I'll add a third Goldfish-eating kid; now they've got critical mass toward a gang!

And herein lies the problem...

What problem? Too much childhood happiness? I know, it's awful. But you keep fighting the good fight, PP, making sure your kids eat their rutabaga chips. We'll muddle on without you somehow.

If Goldfish crackers are what makes your child happy, I feel sorry for him/ her....

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feed my toddler goldfish because I want him to grow up to rob banks.

Maybe we should hang out. It'll save your kid the trouble of recruiting a gang if he hangs out with my maladjusted goldfish eating kids.

I'll add a third Goldfish-eating kid; now they've got critical mass toward a gang!

And herein lies the problem...

What problem? Too much childhood happiness? I know, it's awful. But you keep fighting the good fight, PP, making sure your kids eat their rutabaga chips. We'll muddle on without you somehow.

If Goldfish crackers are what makes your child happy, I feel sorry for him/ her....

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feed my toddler goldfish because I want him to grow up to rob banks.

Maybe we should hang out. It'll save your kid the trouble of recruiting a gang if he hangs out with my maladjusted goldfish eating kids.

I'll add a third Goldfish-eating kid; now they've got critical mass toward a gang!

And herein lies the problem...

What problem? Too much childhood happiness? I know, it's awful. But you keep fighting the good fight, PP, making sure your kids eat their rutabaga chips. We'll muddle on without you somehow.

Entitlement run amok. This thread showcases everything gross about DCUM parents.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is illegal to eat or drink on Metro.

It is entirely possible to last a half-hour or so without food or water. As for occupying your toddler, do you not have any non-food/drink alternatives in your bag?

And when did eating and drinking become a diversion (rather than a source of sustenance), anyway?

Crazy, we are all going crazy.

Oh sweetie. You don't ride Metro much, do you? Just took me an hour and a half for what should be a 45 minute trip. Good thing I'm not a baby or a young toddler, and I can handle that without a meltdown. But if I had a kid and goldfish crackers with me, you'd better believe I'd have used them.

My guess is former PP doesn't ride the walk and use the metro during the summer much either. By the time I got to the metro station and/or my destination I'd be thirsty and we'd be under a heat warning and I'd be lightheaded - especially on code orange or code red days. If they really want to fine me for taking a few sips out of a reusable water bottle they have issues.

I'd only pull out a snack if we were to meet delays like above. Kids are 4, 2.5, and 8 months. The 4 and 2.5 year old can understand "we'll eat when we get to ___" or "we'll eat in 10 minutes" but if that 10 minutes turns into 30 or 60 you'd bet I'd pull out a cracker.

pp--just finished the thread. Am I the ONLY one who doesn't let my kids eat in a moving vehicle? I have never let them eat in the car because I'm so afraid they will choke on a sudden stop. (And, as a result some of my kids elem. friends have remarked "wow your car is soo clean.")

Anonymous wrote:Nope- not drinks nor snacks. I'm a rule follower. Also, like having clean trains and hate seeing all those goldfish crackers that have been run over by strollers and ground into the carpet.

+1. And, cannot believe that you are the only post on page one who said NO. I can't believe how many people justify bending the rules for their situation. The amount of gum on floor is disgusting. It's probably from teenagers whose parents gave them goldfish in secret while they were in strollers.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I commuted for two years with DC on metro. As he got older I had to allow snacks even though I was worried about the germ factor. We were commuting home at snack time, it occupied him when he otherwise wanted to get up and play, and I always cleaned up after us. I learned my lesson about not having a snack when we got stuck for 45 extra minutes (in addition to our hour commute) one day on the red line. From that point on I always has food on metro.

If you're commuting home at snack time, you should be better prepared. You should stop and feed your child a snack before you get on the train, especially since you KNOW that it's at snack time for your child. Why can't you give your DC a snack at the daycare before you leave? That would tide the child over until you get home. While I am sympathetic to the water on the hot day without A/C, this is just elitism. Some rules just don't apply to us, so I'll break them because the rules are inconvenient. You are just as disrespectful and bad as the teens who willfully ignore the rules.

I agree. I'm astonished at all of the people on this thread who think it's ok to do what is clearly illegal (and for good reasons). It is NOT THAT HARD to go without food for the duration of a Metro ride, people. Really, it isn't.

Because my kid doesn't eat. There are only about 5 things I can get him to eat for certain, and its a crap shoot whether he'll eat them or not at preschool. I've tried introducing new foods, only to be met with them being thrown on the floor, every time. So instead of letting him scream while we ride home and then feeding him, I bring along a snack on the train to tide him over. I also clean up after my children because I realize it's not a restaurant and there's noone to bus my seat for me.

If he doesn't eat, then why is he eating on the train?

When do you plan to introduce him to rules?

My dog doesn't like the leash, but too bad - there are leash laws, and I'm not going to inconvenience the public for her comfort.

I was going to respond with a snarky comment, but if you really want to know, my son refuses to eat at his preschool. Excepting the occasional cookie, he only likes certain textures and bland foods. His school tries to serve a variety of snacks and won't always have available something he'll eat. The worst part is that he goes through phases of what he will and will not eat. I suspect he may have SPD and if I can ever get him an appointment at Children's, we'll find out for sure. In the meantime I'll continue to feed my son when and where he's hungry and make sure we don't leave a mess.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feed my toddler goldfish because I want him to grow up to rob banks.

Maybe we should hang out. It'll save your kid the trouble of recruiting a gang if he hangs out with my maladjusted goldfish eating kids.

I'll add a third Goldfish-eating kid; now they've got critical mass toward a gang!

We can call them the Fishes. And get them matching jackets!