Friday, April 6, 2012

How hard is it to say "No"?

A woman in San Francisco attempted to force McDonald's, by court injunction, to stop putting toys in Happy Meals.  Claims it's an attempt to manipulate her children against her, by making them throw tantrums to get their way.

I hate to break this to her, but...children do that anyway.  It doesn't matter if it's over a cheap toy, not wanting to go to bed, or wanting chocolate cake for breakfast.  Kids throw fits.  That she thinks it's because McDonald's is at fault just demonstrates how dumb she is.  And how lazy of a parent she is. 

We don't usually eat at McDonald's.  When we do, the toy comes in handy, because it distracts the kids after they're done eating long enough for us to finish eating.

I'm glad the judge laughed it out of court.

6 comments:

  1. Its Easy...NO. I hear you. Oh the stories we could tell of other people's kids. Right???

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    1. Right. Anytime I start thinking about how awful mine are behaving, we take them out in public. The imp and pixie are freakin' angels, compared to other people's spawn.

      Then again, we don't let 'em get away with shit. Nor do we take 'em out in public when they're really hungry, or really tired.

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  2. I guess my brother and I were pretty well-behaved. Then again...going out to a restaurant was treated as a "major treat" and something that had to be "earned" with good behavior - it was not a regular occurrence and we knew if we acted up, that would be the end of treats like that.

    Also, there wasn't a McDonald's in my town until I was in high school...so that probably avoided some problems. (Though I remember many times asking if I could get a certain cereal - because of the prize in the box - and being told no. And I'd feel sad but I figured "no" meant "No, and you'll hear no again if you ask again.")

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    Replies
    1. So many parents give in when nagged that "no" means "YES, if you whine enough, just so I can get you to SHUT UP!!!"

      Which, in my opinion, makes a parent lazy at best, and bad at worst.

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    2. In my family, being whiny meant standing in a corner or similar. And I hated standing in the corner, it was boring.

      The problem is, the kids who get stuff if they whine enough grow up to be adults who think they can get what they want by being whiny and unpleasant. Which makes it miserable for those of use who are their profs, bosses, or family members.

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    3. Imp is only now starting to get to the age where time-out works. Both get three warnings to stop whining, then swats to the legs or rear if they don't stop. If we're in public, one of us take the whiner and sit in the car while the other one finishes what we were doing.

      I agree--kids that aren't taught that whining brings boredom and/or makes their rear ends smart for a few minutes turn into thoroughly irritating "adults." It's why I'm trying so hard to curb it so early with my two. I love them too much to let them turn out that way.

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