Two weeks ago we went to Legoland in San Diego. This was the first time that we have been to a touristy family destination outside of the San Francisco area. It was shocking how many really obese people – and even very young children – there were. I’ve read about the obesity epidemic, but the average person in the bay area is pretty fit (at least compared to what we saw at Legoland) and seems to eat fairly well (there’s no fast food in my neighborhood), so I just haven’t seen it up close and personal.
But the folks working at Legoland don’t seem that concerned.
We ordered a kid’s meal which contained a grilled cheese sandwich, potato chips, rice crispy treat and soda! I confess that I drink a lot of soda, but that doesn’t mean I want my kids to! Of course they loved the meal. We hid the treat and the soda, but let them share the sandwich and chips. My fourteen month old screamed as if someone was trying to kill her every time her brother came near the chips. I’m glad my kids were happy but really, couldn’t they have thrown in some carrot sticks or an apple?
They also had an have an apple snack that was heavily promoted around the park -- Granny’s Apple Fries - fried apples, dusted in sugar and served with a vanilla sauce.
I was obsessed with my weight in high school and alternately starved myself and ate whole boxes of Pepperidge Farm cookies. I don’t want to obsess any more than I already am about my kids’ food. And I don’t want to pass any obsessions along. I want my kids to have healthy body images, no matter what body type they have.
My son loves his legos. We have spent many happy hours building fire stations and houses for Bob the Builder. And more importantly, he has spent many happy hours with them WITHOUT ME. But I can't help wondering whether I should support a company that doesn't care....
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Dispatches on the ups and downs and ups and downs of motherhood!
Dispatches on the ups and downs and ups and downs of motherhood!
About Me
- Laura
- San Francisco, California
- I mostly think about yoga, paddle boarding, reading, writing, parenting & coffee.
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- The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society
- City of Theives by David Benioff
- How to Be Good by Nick Hornby
- I Claudius by Robert Graves
- Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann
- Katherine by Anya Seton
- Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey
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- Frenchman's Creek by Daphne Du Maurier
- Brat Farrar by Josephine Tey
1 comment:
Mama Lynn,
I appreciated your observations about LegoLand and its serving of junk food to kids. That company makes so much money from us all and to do that in return? It is amazing what junk is thrust at children, almost from day one.
Just be glad you live in a city, not in the burbs, where nobody walks and fat is normal.
I wonder if you've been to Ikea - another Scandanavian giant but one that I find to be extremely child- and family-friendly, to coin a phrase. There's the ball room, where you can drop off your child while shopping. There's the food, all quite healthy (well, they do have hotdogs and fries, but also cold shrimp and real soup and good bread) and reasonably priced - and in Elizabeth NJ, the Ikea cafeteria looks out over the runways at Newark Airport (and yes, the Turnpike, too), which is a treat for children. And at holidays, they invite Swedish accordion players and the like to entertain. And then there's the stuff they sell for children, which is almost all of good quality and design and again, reasonably priced. A welcome Euro-slant to it all, somehow - aimed at imaginative play, not over-determined TV characters.
All in all, Ikea seems at least to be trying for some kind of rapport with its customers, especially in the child department. I don't know of any other store with the same vibe.
If you're wondering how a stranger from NJ found your blog, I'll tell you. Your mother, my friend from way back, told me! She's your biggest fan!
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