The Truth about The Clown, The King, Wendy and our Kids.

Meat product, chicken product, potato product, a cup of sugar water, and a toy; this has become the standard meals of choice for far too many of our children and for that matter, us parents. What the hell happened to us? As a child, going to a fast food restaurant was considered a treat. A treat is defined as “an event or item that is out of the ordinary and gives great pleasure”. That sweet, salty, chewy, and colourful combination is there to hit all of our pleasure points at once. With catchy jingles, catch phrases, lovable characters, and enough salt, sugar, and calories to keep our doctors office smiling more than those characters; is this food we crave a treat or now a full blown addiction? Addiction is a continued involvement with a substance or activity despite the negative consequences associated with it. Is fast food good for us? Do we know this? Do we even care? I had a conversation with my 6 year old son about The Clown. I asked him to choose his favorite thing from a standard kid’s meal. Do you like the burger, fries, nuggets, drink or toy the best? Without a slight hesitation, he told me the toy. I then asked him which burger he liked better; The Clown or his dad’s? Without any hesitation he said “yours dad”. To the untrained ear, one might say he didn’t want to let his father down by telling him he likes the clown more. The truth is far different. My son is my Sous Chef at home. Whenever I am cooking he says “can I help?” Standing on a chair by my side, my little Chef is quietly becoming skilled in the kitchen. The satisfaction of having his hands in the process makes for a better tasting burger and a better overall experience for my child. We are very busy during the week and even busier on the weekend as a family; it may indeed be easier to not have to cook anything. My family is worth the preparation time for a fresh and healthier meal. We are raising a generation set to have a lower life expectancy then we do, have far more health problems than we do, and are lazier than we could ever imagine being. Let’s get off of our butts and get a better handle on our family’s diet. Let’s get our kids involved in the kitchen. Let’s stop letting the pushers with smiling faces and cute characters control our meals and our lives. Let’s get from in front of the Play Box Wii all have fallen in love with and get our families eating and living better. If your child still wants that toy to make him or her feel complete, take them to your local dollar store; that is more than what those fast food toys are worth anyway.