Quote:
Originally Posted by
babygirlie 
maybe you should sit down and write a heart felt letter instead. Try not to finger point or call names.. make it about the kids. I don't think laundry and a dirty house are means to take a child away or else I'm guilty. Do you live with them. I have cleaned my house spotless.. and right behind me a little one is yanking EVERYTHING I just put away onto the floor and it looks exactly like it did before. Kids=messy houses.
What is in their cuoboards.. what do they have for dinner? Are you there every day? Can you suggest to them healthier options? Could they be poor and that's how poor people eat? Sorry but junk food is cheaper. Not fair but it is. I just picked up these disgusting marshmellow grahm cracker cookie things that I would never in a million years want to buy but it was like 10 bags for a dollar so I did. You do what ya gotta do. They never got eaten btw dh and dd think they're gross lol.
So you can say instead of doritoes just buy plain corn tortillas and have salsa! they say sugar can cause diabetes later in life if introduced to it as a child and has no nutritional value. Or whatever it is you think they are feeding them. Or pick up the beer cans and loudly voice to the children WE DONT WANT THESE LAYING AROUND DO WE! YOU COULD CUT YOURSELF OR GET SICK! and make it more flamboyant than just picking it up.
If you think they have a learning disability sugest getting them a tudor or you could tudor them.
I think we need more specifics because yes, poor people have crappy food and yes children means a permanently messy house. Kids also mean stained clothes!!! Every single beautiful brand new shirt I have bought dd is stained or some sort of orange sauce. Eventually you get over it and throw it on the kid anyway. Stains don't equal dirty. My daughter gets pee on her clothes daily. kids laundry builds up FAST. If I were single I could wear the same outfit all week long and it would still look good and clean and fresh. I have to change my clothes three times a day else I'd be going to the store with fingerprints on my butt and believe me.. I'm giving up and going to the store as is now. I just don't own enough clothes and detergent to look lovely anymore lol
I think you made a lot of really good points here. I forgot that the OP is childless, oh man....yeah, OP, having kids means keeping a clean house can feel like an absolute MARATHON some days. Another good point, is that unless you're living there, you really don't know how these people are living or interacting with the kids.
One thing I do want to clear up, though, from the post quoted above...is the myth that poor people eat poorly because they are poor. Poor people who eat poorly, eat that way either because they don't KNOW or don't CARE. I am just about as broke as the day is long at this moment in time...we had some major expenses come up that really cleaned us out....our food consumption has not changed. Every day, breakfast, lunch and dinner...clean, whole, from-scratch-cooked foods. If you use your head, know how to cook and have the desire to eat well...it is possible to feed your family well on a very tight budget.** I actually find that the simpler and less processed food filled my shopping list is, the less I spend at the checkout. It helps that our milks comes from the farm of our friends, our eggs come from our chickens and we raise chickens and rabbits for meat....but anyone who is willing to get creative can still eat well, even if they are "poor". Besides, I know plenty of "rich" people who eat atrocious atrocious food.
**Edit to add, tight budget meaning: I spend $100-120 on groceries every week...that gets me breakfast, lunch and dinner for two adults and two toddlers. I live in New England, where prices tend to be higher...I do a LOT of cooking and have to be really smart with my meal plans...but I think $120 is a pretty good food budget for a four person household for a week. If I'm really tight, I can actually squeeze it for $90...my personal best is $87 for breakfast lunch and dinner for a week...GOOD food. But that was REALLY crazy amounts of cooking, too. That is why one of the most important things I do for my kids, is incorporate them into meal preparation, meal planning and food shopping. My daughter has been on a stool helping me cook since she could stand...my son is later in joining, but at 20 months he;s now up there, too...he can stir and flip things, but at this point all I care about is his interest. My DD just turned three and has graduated to chopping by herself and can even (kind of!) dice things. One of her main responsibilities is egg collection and she also observes the chickens for signs of distress/illness. She's been helping more with the rabbits this summer, too. She understands where our food comes from. She knows how to pick good produce from bad in the store and from a field, she knows how to make soups...she can whisk up gravy in a pan from pan drippings and stock almost completely on her own. She loves cooking.
If my kids leave my home as young adults with one advantage...it will be that they know how to feed themselves. If you know how to cook and are interested in the process of feeding your body...it doesn't matter how rich or poor you are, you will be able to make it happen. The gift of cooking and understanding food/nutrition, is the gift of health and happiness. TEACH YOUR KIDS TO COOK, people!!!! /rant sorry for the novel!
Edited by BroodyWoodsgal - 8/5/11 at 4:50am
