Still not smoking, though it is fair to say that I am at least 75% crazier than I was a week ago when I could still puff happily away. Randy's son and girlfriend came over yesterday. (Did I tell you that he and his son have the same name and so do the girlfriend and I? That never ceases to amuse me.) Ok... off subject.
Randy Dad says to them "Oh... she quit smoking."
Randy Son turns to me and says "You know...everyone hates a quiter." Total dead pan face. I wish I could deliver a straight line like that. I can't. I start to giggle and give it away. Like father, like son. It was a nice refreshing change from people launching into the dangers of smoking, which I already knew about for maybe 30 years. ;-)
I have a thing about quiet... I am not all that fond of it. Especially if I am alone. I am certain it comes from being the youngest of 5 kids and having 4 kids of my own. I am used to a semi-controlled form of chaos that can have many different soundtracks running at the same time.
It is very quiet here once the man goes to work.
We have a ridiculous amount of TVs here and sound systems. Seriously, if it's not a bathroom, it has a TV and you can see a TV from the bathrooms if you leave the doors open.
I find that amusing.
They were here before me and I added one more to the mix. Anyway, so when the man gets up he turns on the one in our room and as he goes through the house, he turns on others... so that as he gets ready for work, he can hear the news without having to wait for something to get over before he can go put on his shoes. I have found this a comfort. Even if it does sometimes create a weird sort of Doppler effect in the kitchen as Rachel Ray says something a few seconds after herself in the front room.
(Look... the first flat screen TV!)
Yeah... I'm meandering toward my point. Sorry.
I do not tune in The View to watch. It happens to be on the channel that I have on for company as I rattle around this big house stone alone.
I will confess that sometimes if they have on someone or thing that I am interested in, that I will sit down and watch a bit. But I am not a regular viewer.
Today's topic on The View that caught my ear was that a school district sent home letters to parents informing them of their children's body mass index numbers and what that meant in terms of health risks for their child.
As I understand it, some parents were pissed off by this and took it to mean that their child was being singled out as fat. Let me interject this note... at least one parent was warned that their child was seriously too thin. So it was not truly a "fat" only issue.
Was this was concern for the health of our children who are supposed to be the first generation of children NOT to live as long as their parents because of unhealthy life and food choices?
This gave me food for thought... pun intended.
First, the irony since school lunches are terrible health choices for a meal. I should say most. In the district I left, they did crazy things to make it more healthy. They stopped using any sugar or salt.
Another irony is that they mostly served meals that were 90% carb based. If you understand how that breaks down in the body, then you know a carb becomes and is processed as sugar. So in reality, they have a high sugar meal with a salad bar option.
By the way ice berg lettuce has almost zero food value and so you know that is their lettuce of choice because it is cheap.
They also decided to cut cost on meals by cutting out cooks.
The meals are now made of the type of fast food crap you can buy in the freezer section... toss in the oven and eat quickly. No prep equals no time paid for the cook to cook. For example one menu was bagel dog, canned corn, tater tots (without salt!) and a fruit option that your child can throw away if they don't want to eat it. It did have less sugar and a small amount less fat than the store brands... but taste went out the window with them along with the kids desire to eat the stuff.
I do find it ironic that anyone who can screw up a kid's diet like that would be the one to worry about their health... but what do I really know?
So my question for you is...
Did those parents have a right to be insulted for their child or should they be saying
"Thank you! Now Jr... get your butt up off the couch
and ride your bike for an hour."
???
In recent posts... elsewhere, I have heard the same tired old comment that so many people use:
They should shut their mouths and push away from the table.
An old saw... and sawdust as far as I am concerned on the subject of childhood obesity.
Being fat is an addiction. But unlike stopping a drinking, drug or other habit, you actually need the thing you are addicted to in some amount to live.
No cold turkey!
(Hahahaha... I like that pun!)
Sorry... my point about pushing away from the table is this... children do not have the maturity or discipline to do that. Since they learn from example, they follow what the parents do.
I personally think a good wake up call to mom and dad is the right thing on this subject.
