McDonald's Renders Parents Helpless

Katy Grimes: Newsflash! McDonald’s is at fault not just for childhood obesity, but for lousy parenting.

“A California woman is suing McDonald’s claiming the fast-food giant uses toys to market directly to young children. Monet Parham, a Sacramento, California, mother of two small children filed the lawsuit Wednesday in San Francisco along with health, nutrition and food safety advocates Center for Science in the Public Interest . CSPI is seeking court approval to proceed as a class action,” reported CNN.

The Sacramento mother has apparently never learned that she’s the mommy, and responsible for raising her child to independently make decisions. Doesn’t mommy control the wallet in her household?

“It’s a fight I just can’t win.” “I can tell them ‘No’ all day long, but then they see commercials that convince them you’ve really got to have this,” Parham said.

And surprise, surprise: “Her 6-year-old daughter Maya especially likes the toys that come with McDonald’s Happy Meals. With a smile, the first grader says opening a Happy Meal is like “a birthday present.”

Apparently, Parham is suing for negligent or intentional infliction of emotional distress, caused by the fact that her six year old daughter will not stop hassling her about McDonald’s plastic Shrek toys.

CNN reported, “Parham, a 41-year old state employee, says her kids repeatedly ask for Happy Meals, mainly for the toys. “We have to say no to our kids so many times and McDonald’s makes that so much harder to do. I object to the fact that McDonald’s is getting into my kids’ heads without my permission and actually changing what my kids want to eat.”

Poor Monet Parham. McDonald’s is at fault for allegedly neutering her as a parent because she doesn’t like telling her daughter “no.”

When my son was little, we used to play the animal sounds game. One day I asked him, “What does the cow say?” He replied “moo.” I asked, “What does the kitty say?” He replied “meow.” I tried to trip him up and asked, “What does the mommy say.” Being smarter than I, he replied, “Mommy says no, no, no.”

Shocked as I was, I realized that I was doing my job.

Ms. Parham should be ashamed and embarrassed about the lawsuit, but in today’s entitlement society, I seriously doubt that will ever occur.

Even the uber-liberal Daily Kos thinks the lawsuit is ridiculous — “It accuses McDonald’s of something everyone alive during the past 30 years already knows; they market to children with Ronald McDonald & toys in Happy Meals. Since children that age don’t in & of themselves have the disposable income or transportation to walk into McDonald’s with a wad of cash to order a quarter-pounder, there’s a question of parental responsibility.”

Casting further suspicion of her motive, Monet Parham is reportedly an employee of the California Department of Public Health and works in the “Cancer Prevention and Nutrition Section.”

I don’t think that Monet Parham is going to elicit much empathy from anyone over this ridiculous lawsuit. And perhaps someone should take a look at her job performance since she’s allowing her own child to eat foods that Parham’s state employer deems unhealthy. Her department The Network for a Healthy California “represents a statewide movement of local, state and national partners collectively working toward improving the health status of low-income Californians through increased fruit and vegetable consumption and daily physical activity.”

The agency even offers “fast food survival” courses. Spare me. Parham should take a look at the Fruit, Vegetable, and Physical Activity Toolbox her department has available on the website – but then again, does anyone every read this garbage?

DEC. 16, 2010