Comment Re:parental self control (Score 1) 322
As a parent, I totally accept responsibility for my kids' well-being and health. I am totally guilty of taking my kids through drive-thrus and letting them watch TV. The wife and I have adopted an American suburban, 2-car, 2-income, white-collar lifestyle with the kids also being swept up in the hectic pace that it entails.
By the time one of us gets to the child care center to get them (since the elementary school closes way before COB), they're whining how they're hungry, and on many days we need to get one of them to an after-school sports event. As much as we try to do the right thing, we're so physically and emotionally tired that we give in to doing the easy thing; we get them fast food and let them watch TV for an hour before we really sit down with them for homework time.
So am I an ideal parent? Do I make the absolutely best choices for them? No of course not. Unfortunately we cannot make those decisions in an ideal vacuum. I make decisions that still meet my kids' needs that still balances out with time constraints, external commitments, and, honestly, plain old selfishness to watch out for my own interests.