Oh, Shut Up Already.

I know I said this would not be a food blog.  Technically, this isn't about food, but more about the behavior of these parents when it comes to the food their kids (and other peoples' kids) eat.  The war rages on!

One of the two food-related blogs I have not "unliked" yet is Real Mom Nutrition.  I like her; don't always agree with her, but I like her.  Today she shared this horribly written (oh so, so horribly written) blog Be Realistic, Give Your Kids Cheetos, which is actually titled in contrast to the writer author person-who-grouped-words-together-and-made-it-barely-understandable's message.  

I went back to Real Mom Nutrition's Facebook.  She asked:

"What are your thoughts? Is it okay for kids to like junk food and have it occasionally? Or should we eliminate it?" 

I wanted to read the comments that her followers added, assuming that it would be the usual anti-junk-food rants, only to find that they were all in agreement.  Occasionally, they allow their kids to have junk.  What?  Just the other day they were battling it out over the dangers of food dyes, and sugar, and diabetes!  And in those arguments against them not once did I see anyone 'fess up like they did today.

Then it occurred to me, it wouldn't have been in their best interest that day to admit it.  Gah.  Typical.  It made me want to advocate for those "other parents" that want to bring chips and energy drinks for snack, because now I can understand some of the frustration.  

Here some of the comments (I'm calling bullshit on the first one):

"I feel it is okay occasionally. I would say one to two junk items a week." 

"If I eat it, my kids eat it. It is good to introduce fun foods to your child b/c let's face it- someone else will. I stick to occasional for myself which means it is occasional for my children too."

"There is junk food in the real world so I think they need to be exposed to it so they can learn how to deal with it and handle it when you aren't around. I think it is important to keep it to a minimum at home. We always have chips, pretzels etc around, but cookies and ice cream are more of a treat. They eat a lot more chips than I would like but not near as much as most kids. My son would eat junk all day long if I let him but my daughter asks for veggies a lot. They were raised in the same house with the same food and rules...go figure they have minds of their own :)"

And my favorite because it made me shake my head in disbelief:

"I think of it kind of like drinking in college. The kids that had some exposure to make the choices about food, were healthier in college because they've already made choices about food in life. Now the ones who never had junk food, they went to college a.d gorged, they had no idea about portion control because they never had the choice before. So just like beer in college. The ones who never tried it end up blacked out after drinking as much as possible as quickly as possible."

Gorging on junk food and drinking too much are incomparable.  Shoving an entire cake into your pie-hole doesn't have quite the same effect as chugging a six pack or pounding twelve shots of tequila.  You can't give your kids some exposure to booze throughout the years, and then convince yourself they won't over do it in college because of the genius plan.  You're a f***ing moron if you believe that.  Drunk drivers vs. Sugared Up drivers.  Guess who would win?  Or, I guess lose, in this case.

I digress.

So, here's my question, are these parents that are agreeing with this idea of allowing occasional junk food, the same parents that so adamantly judge other moms and dads for bringing this junk to the sidelines as snacks?  Is the end of the game not "occasional"?  If so, why is there even a debate about it to begin with?  Why are some allowing oh, let's say, Grandma, to give their child some crap, when they're writing about how it isn't fair that they are put in a position to either say NO to their child and be the bad guy (for ten whole minutes), or allow them to eat the junk after the game?  Fair?  

Heads up to those that don't have kids yet!  Don't be a parent if you want fair.  Go get a dog.

Yeah, I let my son have junk food.  My idea of "occasionally" is once a day, maybe twice, under normal circumstances.  Not because I'm afraid to say no, or that I've been put in the "unfair" position of possibly being a bad guy, but because I know he eats way more healthful food than not. By the same token, I would not flip out if I were told I could only bring fruit and water as a snack for any kid's event.  I'm not afraid to tell my son no.  I'm raising a MAN, not my friend.  

Since culinary school, Josh and I have made a lot of changes in the kitchen.  It has been challenging to say the least because of our old habits, addictions to the yummy sweet stuff, and the costs.  I looked to websites, documentaries, books, and food blogs for help in figuring all of it out. Some of it helped, but most of it just made it that much more daunting.  Now, all I want to say anymore is...

Shut.up already.