Crap non-primal parents say that make you want to slap them... page 3

[JayGee]

Not food related, but I was talking with a group of Moms at my kids' school yesterday and they were lamenting that their children rarely read. I said that my kids read a lot since we allow no screens of any kind (TV, computer, video games, iPod, etc.) during the week. They do get a couple of hours of screen time on the weekends. All of the Moms looked at me in horror saying, "my kids would be bugging me like crazy if they couldn't watch TV!" or "then I couln't watch MY shows!"

No wonder their children never pick up a book....

[athomeontherange]

Not food related, but I was talking with a group of Moms at my kids' school yesterday and they were lamenting that their children rarely read. I said that my kids read a lot since we allow no screens of any kind (TV, computer, video games, iPod, etc.) during the week. They do get a couple of hours of screen time on the weekends. All of the Moms looked at me in horror saying, "my kids would be bugging me like crazy if they couldn't watch TV!" or "then I couln't watch MY shows!"

No wonder their children never pick up a book....

I get the most interesting comments from other adults as well as my students when I tell them we do not have TV. I mean, we CAN watch movies but thats it. I have also de-tech'd the house further by getting rid of the internet (I am borrowing while recuperating from surgery). Its amazing.. since doing this my daughter's imagination has returned 100 fold, she is IN LOVE with her bike and her muscles make me envious, she reads like there is no tomorrow and she has authored and illustrated a couple short books. She is 10. Do we miss tv and technology?? Ummm not so much.

[magnolia1973]

I have to say, I love good kids. My neighbor's daughter is GREAT. My neighbor is a complete bitch, but her kid is so polite and well behaved and amazingly self sufficient. Just a cool, nice kid. Her mom said that from the get go, she expected her daughter to do as much as possible for herself and never "babied" her. Kid is in second grade and makes her own breakfast and lunch. Brings her mom snacks. Cleans up after herself.

Meanwhile my boss's teen daughter who has never been disciplined calls "Moooooommmmmmmm there is NOTHING for breakfast"... then boss says "there are muffins, cereal, eggs, granola bars".... "OK, I'll bring you a bagel in 20 minutes".

The other fun one to watch is old friend from high school on FB. She herself is morbidly obese and well, not interested in change. Just had a baby that is apparently sick all the time and keeps posting "This time I WILL leave the office with MEDS for my precious".

[PrimalMama]

"I can't get my kid to eat X"
"Oh, Susie's 10, she's not old enough to be in the kitchen..."
"But Johnny NEEDS his [insert crap food here]!"

When I was a kid, I ate whatever my parents were eating. I HAD to try a few bites of everything, no matter what (I'd imagine an actual ALLERGY would've been an exception to this one...). Oh, and I started helping in the kitchen pretty much as soon as I could stand up.... I was making breakfast in bed for mom and romantic dinners for my parents when I was... maybe... 7ish. I knew how to behave in nice restaurants around the age of 2 - the comment about the crayons being there to keep the kid occupied and out of trouble? SPOT ON!

I imagine my kids will do the same as I did. Being picky about food is not an option for a kid under my care (legit things like sensory disorders and allergies are an exception). Not knowing how to cook is also not an option for a kid in my care. Whining, begging, running around restaurants!? Unacfrickin'ceptable!

*grumble grumble*
NOW YOU KIDS GET OFF MY LAWN!

[jaye]

Here's another. I live in the rural Midwest so I have a ton of 'em.

These parents have 5 boys. Each subsequent one is in worse health. The Dr. told her she had to stop getting pregnant after the 3rd. The 5 or 6 year old has lost all his teeth. He has had dental surgeries to correct some of the problems. The baby had to wear a helmet so his skullbones would grow together for like a year. Anyway, my health problems and diet came up and (assuming they were a good Midwestern family) I said "I eat a lot of meat - Probably like you guys do". He said they didn't eat much meat. I asked them what kind of dinners they usually ate and he answered "pasta." Now, mind you, these kids are always eating soda, candy, cake, icecream. I have never seen them eat anything healthy. When I asked the father why he thought the 5yo had such teeth problems he said it was bad genes!

[jenn26point2]

I went to the farmer's market once and a lady selling bread asked me if I wanted to sample one of her artesian breads. I told her no b/c I don't eat wheat. She said "Oh these are made with all purpose flour". I did a mental *facepalm* and *smh*. I thanked her and said no thanks.

Sometimes I can't believe how dense people really are about the origin of their foods.

[Crabbcakes]

Not food related, but I was talking with a group of Moms at my kids' school yesterday and they were lamenting that their children rarely read. I said that my kids read a lot since we allow no screens of any kind (TV, computer, video games, iPod, etc.) during the week. They do get a couple of hours of screen time on the weekends. All of the Moms looked at me in horror saying, "my kids would be bugging me like crazy if they couldn't watch TV!" or "then I couln't watch MY shows!"

No wonder their children never pick up a book....

I get the most interesting comments from other adults as well as my students when I tell them we do not have TV. I mean, we CAN watch movies but thats it. I have also de-tech'd the house further by getting rid of the internet (I am borrowing while recuperating from surgery). Its amazing.. since doing this my daughter's imagination has returned 100 fold, she is IN LOVE with her bike and her muscles make me envious, she reads like there is no tomorrow and she has authored and illustrated a couple short books. She is 10. Do we miss tv and technology?? Ummm not so much.

You two have made my evening!! I thought I was the only cracked one on the MDA who voluntarily squashed the technology at home. Our situation: hubby writes programs for the environmental industry, so we definitely have technology in the house, but we have no cable tv. We live so rurally that the only way to get it is to get a dish, which we won't do 'cause we want the young 'uns to read and interact with one another and... PLAY OUTSIDE. House rule - no picture-supporting technology of any sort (iPod, computer, Netflix, Wii, dvd player, etc.) before 6 p.m. weekdays (two of those weekdays we aren't home until nearly bedtime, so no technology on those days...) and none on Sundays, exception made for sick, bedridden kids who need a distraction from the discomfort. We do listen to music on the cd player and sometimes from iTunes or the old iPod that is boring and shows only playlists. My girls read and converse and do chores and cook and...

[RitaRose]

I knew how to behave in nice restaurants around the age of 2...

Same with my kids. My ex's parents loved to take us to the nicer restaurants, and there was no chance in hell I was missing out because of a misbehaving kid. They would start to get fussy, we'd go outside. Calm down and we'd go back in. Lather, rinse, repeat. They learned VERY early on that all they would get for being whiny and loud was a front row view of the parking lot until they behaved. No yummy food, and no grandma unless they were good.

By the time they were old enough to talk, they were well behaved enough to be in the nicest restaurants, even those that specifically didn't allow children.


Amazing how fast kids catch on when you're consistent.

[Iron Fireling]

Ugh I have a friend who is a single parent and on a disability pension... she never has enough money. The other day she was waiting for a call from the cable TV people because she wanted to put cable on. Now, I've never had cable, and had no idea how much it cost these days. I thought it was maybe $30 a month. I said, "Geez you don't need cable! There are so many more free TV channels on now than there used to be, and heaps have kids' programs! You'd be spending $30 a month or so you don't really need to spend!" She responded with, "$30?? It's like $120 a month!! Do you think maybe we just shouldn't get it?" Me *facepalm*. "Yeah, don't waste your money!"

Last I heard she's still considering it . I don't get it! When we were kids there were only a few TV stations (in fact, without the big aerial, we used to get 2! That went up to 5 with the aerial). Now there are heaps more free TV stations, in fact, a lot I can't even keep up with because I rarely watch TV (there's maybe 1 or 2 shows I watch... and they'd only have a few episodes each year, so I really, REALLY don't watch much TV). I can't imagine spending so much, while on a PENSION, so you could just get MORE crap TV!

[Drumroll]

Here's another. I live in the rural Midwest so I have a ton of 'em.

These parents have 5 boys. Each subsequent one is in worse health. The Dr. told her she had to stop getting pregnant after the 3rd. The 5 or 6 year old has lost all his teeth. He has had dental surgeries to correct some of the problems. The baby had to wear a helmet so his skullbones would grow together for like a year. Anyway, my health problems and diet came up and (assuming they were a good Midwestern family) I said "I eat a lot of meat - Probably like you guys do". He said they didn't eat much meat. I asked them what kind of dinners they usually ate and he answered "pasta." Now, mind you, these kids are always eating soda, candy, cake, icecream. I have never seen them eat anything healthy. When I asked the father why he thought the 5yo had such teeth problems he said it was bad genes!

Ok, yeah...

You DID slap him, right?