Parents On Reddit Want You To Stop Feeding Your Child Junk, You Lazy Monsters

168257365One of my biggest mom pet-peeves is parents who care about/judge how other people are feeding their kids. For some parents, how well their kids eat is a real accomplishment that somehow reflects on their awesome parenting skills. I found some of them bragging on Reddit today:

My wife & I are amazed at how most of our relatives feed their young kids. They make separate “kids” meals at lunch & dinner. As you can imagine it’s nothing but nuggets, PB&J, and other processes shit from the frozen aisle.

We’re not above feeding our kids any of that, but we definitely don’t make separate kids meals. Our kids eat what we are eating and they love it.

When we visit family it’s a challenge because they see all their cousins eating nothing but crap.

Ok, I feel better already just writing that 🙂

Oh, okay. So your kids only eat PB&J’s and nuggets when you are also having that for dinner? That makes sense. I’m in awe of parents who claim to never make a separate “kids” meal, but I don’t think they win the gold medal in parenting or anything. What I had to learn after my first child is that some kids are just prone to being pickier than others. Why do some parents always think that every quality that their child has is the result of awesome parenting? Sometimes, people just get lucky. Also – mind your own business. If it’s not your kid, what do you care?

A lot of Redditors do not agree with me. Here are some amazing comments that support the notion that it is everyone’s business what every kid eats.

1. It’s painful.

It’s painful for me to hear about kids who eat nothing but frozen processed crap. It doesn’t mean I think the parents are shitty, but I do feel sad that they don’t seem to understand how beneficial healthy meals are for growing brains and bodies. I want the best for every child. It’s not about judging the parents so that I feel high and mighty, it’s about the kids… Some people just think food is food and need to be educated.

 

2.  This totally affects me because, insurance.

It actually does affect everyone how others feed their kids. Kids who eat nothing but boxed, fried crap usually grow up to eat a mostly boxed, fried crap diet and feed the obesity pandemic in this country which we all pay for in insurance premiums. Obviously, in some cases parents can only do their best but the ones who feed their kids McDonald’s twice a day out of pure laziness make me angry.

 

3. The snack-givers are ruining America.

Another thing that drives me nuts is the snack givers. We had some friends with kids our age that we would have over for dinner and the mom was constantly giving her kids filler food. She’d pop a whole thing of popcorn fifteen minutes before we would eat and give it to her kids and then be confused as to why they wouldn’t eat their veggie stir fry. Meanwhile, I would tell my kids they couldn’t have any of their popcorn because we were eating dinner soon so then I was the mean mom. Twenty minutes after we were done eating she’d be giving them pieces of white bread with peanut butter because they were hungry.

 

4. BPA devil-snacks.

Snacking makes me crazy! We have friends over for dinner at least once a week and the mother gives her 2 yo daughter at least two of those pouch baby food things (that aren’t recyclable and probably lined w BPA) before dinner. The little girl sucks them down, gets full, then just plays with the dinner I made. The parents get mad at her for messing around at the table but then give her a bunch of snacks when she is hungry after dinner. So frustrating!

5. You can’t find one thing to eat???

I once witnessed a parent buy her son a hamburger before going to a banquet buffet, because he was a “picky eater”. There was like 20 dishes there to choose from. He couldn’t find one thing to eat?

There was a mom in my son’s playgroup in Brooklyn who was one of these people. She constantly remarked on “snacks” she saw other women giving their kids, she only shopped at the local farmer’s market and she made all of her own baby food. These are all things that are amazing, she was just really over-the-top about it. I try to buy organic and give my son healthy snacks too, but I don’t understand looking down on parents who are okay with PB&J, nuggets and goldfish on occasion.

Then one day, I caught her unawares, walking her son down the street in his stroller. I saw her from behind and tapped her shoulder. She turned around and when she saw me she was clearly horrified. Her 18-month-old had an apple fritter in his hands – and he was actually nodding off in a sugar coma. It was awesome. She started frantically explaining, He was starving and wouldn’t eat anything else! I thought, Ha! You are either a big, fat, liar – or this is karma for all of your bragging.

Parents – you probably don’t have all the details on the lives and eating habits of all of these people you are judging. You’re not a better parent because your kid likes celery. Stop being so judgmental – or you may end up with your karma child the second time around.

(photo: Getty Images)

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