Minor rant thread. Post your rants o' the day here!

The only thing my wife wanted to do on Halloween was relax at home with a fire.

There is an 80% chance of rain tomorrow, and ONLY for tomorrow. 

Brett_Murphy (Agent of Chaos) said:

The only thing my wife wanted to do on Halloween was relax at home with a fire.

There is an 80% chance of rain tomorrow, and ONLY for tomorrow. 

That took a while for me to figure out.

All the homes I have lived in where we had a place for fire to sit by, it was indoors.

That's where my brain went - "why would you have a fire OUTside?" 

volvoclearinghouse said:

In reply to mtn :

"As to the research though, I'll ask my wife for it, but I know the gist of it is do not restrict kid's and their access to food or else you risk creating or exacerbate eating disorders. "

Disagree.  As parents, we are responsible for our kids, and their eating habits, and setting in place habits they will carry with them their entire lives.  We very much restrict what the kids eat, mostly by not having E36 M3 in the house.  The funny thing is, because we try to instill good eating habits in them, by example, when the giant bag of Halloween candy arrives, it sits on top of the refrigerator and they maybe request one piece of candy every couple of days.  There's no gorging, no diabetic shock, no wild and crazy sugar swings.  The other day at Lowes, a man at the checkout offered my kids a piece of candy from his bucket, and they both, without prompting from me, politely refused.  Even after I gave them permission to take a piece each, they asked me if I was sure!  

Yes, kids' bodies consume a LOT of calories, and to some extent they can kindof eat whatever and survive.  But it's not ideal, and our goal for our kids is slightly higher than simply "surviving".  Agree with the earlier poster, that a bit of candy on Halloween, Easter, and Christmas isn't the whole issue, it's what happens the rest of the year that makes them future candidates for behavioral and physical health problems.  "Binging" is not OK, that's not healthy.  Food's main job is to keep us healthy, and that needs to be the mindset that shapes our diet.  

You're reading or putting more into my sentence than was there.

You're talking about every day eating. I'm talking about Halloween candy. We are not talking about giving kids a $20 bill and letting them loose in the grocery store every week to pick out their snacks. You don't keep a pillowcase full of candy in your house under normal circumstances. It is a special treat. 

In a similar manner, we don't keep twinkies or cheetos or that stuff in the home. But we don't restrict it. If kiddo is at Grandma and Grandpa's, nothing is off limits. She asks, they give it. Wonderful. When we do buy junk food, we limit the size and how frequently she can have it. This is done by only getting the single serve bags and only getting them once in a blue moon. While I was saying that you don't want to restrict food, I really meant you don't want to overtly restrict it. If it is on the shelf, it should be an option for them. If you don't want it to be an option, don't buy it. If you don't want them to drink pop, don't drink pop in front of them.

I've linked the studies my wife pointed me to below.

Fisher and Birch, 1999 (In case that doesn't link the full study, this one should have it)

• Results: In both experiments, restricting access to a palatable food increased children's behavioral response to that food. Experiment 2 showed that restricting access increased children's subsequent selection and intake of that food within the restricted context.
• Conclusions: Restricting access focuses children's attention on restricted foods, while increasing their desire to obtain and consume those foods. Restricting children's access to palatable foods is not an effective means of promoting moderate intake of palatable foods and may encourage the intake of foods that should be limited in the diet."

Rollins, Loken, Savage, and Birch, 2015 - this was a followup aimed to replicate the earlier study. "Results confirm that parents’ use of restriction does not moderate children’s consumption of these foods, particularly among children with lower regulatory or higher appetitive tendencies."

• Restriction increases children’s intake of restricted snack foods
• Restriction increases comments and behavioral responses to restricted snacks
• Effects of restriction differed by children’s regulatory and appetitive tendencies
• Children with lower inhibitory control were more susceptible to restriction effects
• Children with high appetitive tendency were more susceptible to restriction effects

Orlet and Lipps, 1998 - "In conclusion, restricting children's access to a palatable food within their eating environment does not promote moderate patterns of intake and paradoxically may actually promote the very behavior its use is intended to reduce. This research supports the view that restricting access can sensitize children to external eating cues while increasing their desire to obtain and consume the restricted food. These findings also suggest that the effects of restriction on children's eating will be particularly pronounced in families in which restriction is consistently in effect."

Loth et. al, 2013"While it is important to confirm these novel study findings in additional adolescent populations, study findings provide preliminary evidence of an association between controlling food-related parenting practices and use of disordered eating behaviors among adolescents, particularly boys."

In reply to mtn :

We're probably splitting hairs, the whole premise is what constitutes "overly restrictive". My kids know what candy tastes like, we haven't completely prevented them from having it. But they have never tasted pop, because we never have it in the house, and never drink it when we go out to eat.  

Studies can be arranged to prove about any hypothesis, and I'm sure that children all have different levels of susceptibility to the addiction of food, like anything else. There's a lot of other variables to consider, too, such as parental behavior ('do as I say not as I do' tends to be pretty blatant to kids, more than most adults realize) and probably education, income, etc. 

volvoclearinghouse said:

But they have never tasted pop, because we never have it in the house, and never drink it when we go out to eat.  

I didn't learn it from you, dad!

Didn't sleep well last night. And now I spilled my coffee.

In reply to volvoclearinghouse :

It's almost like the range of what most people consider common sense covers things.

Letting kids gorge on candy in one sitting is going to make them feel gross, but not cause any long-term harm.

Setting common-sense rules to meter out candy - expecting them to eat a healthy meal before candy - is probably not going to give them an eating disorder.

Freaking out and making candy some taboo thing that you need to protect them from is probably a bad idea.

So many deer carcasses along the road this morning.

It was like driving through an abattoir to get to work.

Its snowing in Northern Illinois.

In reply to Karacticus :

We had one get into the interstate a couple of weeks ago. The interstate is a 4 lane concrete canyon at that point. It was spread for half a mile like steak tartare. I've got a pretty bulletproof stomach but that even made me feel a little grossed out. 

volvoclearinghouse said:

In reply to mtn :

But they have never tasted pop, because we never have it in the house, and never drink it when we go out to eat.  

 

Interesting that I drink pop quite a bit and there is usually a case of Mtn Dew in the house but my wife says carbonation burns her mouth and my kids all say the same. I don't notice it but I'm perfectly happy with that because I'm sure drinking pop is not great for them or me either.

chandler said:

volvoclearinghouse said:

In reply to mtn :

But they have never tasted pop, because we never have it in the house, and never drink it when we go out to eat.  

 

Interesting that I drink pop quite a bit and there is usually a case of Mtn Dew in the house but my wife says carbonation burns her mouth and my kids all say the same. I don't notice it but I'm perfectly happy with that because I'm sure drinking pop is not great for them or me either.

I switched to seltzer water over a decade ago.  Interestingly, a couple years ago my mouth started getting bothered by what I thought was the carbonation. It turned out it was the flavorings- I had been drinking ginger-flavored seltzer, lemon flavored seltzer, etc, the 0 calorie stuff, no artificial sweeteners but just the flavorings were bothering me.  I now buy only plain unflavored seltzer, and add a bit of lemon or lime juice, or apple cider, or whatever other natural fruit juice I have around.  Sometimes for a treat, a splash of lemonade or limeade.  The result is a drink of very few calories, very tasty and refreshing, without that nasty clingy sweetness or loaded with chemicals.  

And yes, the kids drink it, too.  

If you want to replace Mountain Dew, try a can of plain seltzer with some lemonade or limeade in it, maybe add some extra plain lemon or lime juice to make it stronger flavored.  

Ok. That's it. No more. No more weight.  berkeley off with your problems. berkeley off with your requests. I've got more than my share.

berkeley right off, and leave me alone.

In reply to Toyman! :

Got to watch a truck in front of me nail a deer a few years back when it was around -20F. 
 

Apparently, deer contain quite a bit of steam. 

In reply to Appleseed :

Sometimes that's what you've got to do.  Doesn't make it any easier.

Good luck.

volvoclearinghouse said:

chandler said:

volvoclearinghouse said:

In reply to mtn :

But they have never tasted pop, because we never have it in the house, and never drink it when we go out to eat.  

 

Interesting that I drink pop quite a bit and there is usually a case of Mtn Dew in the house but my wife says carbonation burns her mouth and my kids all say the same. I don't notice it but I'm perfectly happy with that because I'm sure drinking pop is not great for them or me either.

I switched to seltzer water over a decade ago.  Interestingly, a couple years ago my mouth started getting bothered by what I thought was the carbonation. It turned out it was the flavorings- I had been drinking ginger-flavored seltzer, lemon flavored seltzer, etc, the 0 calorie stuff, no artificial sweeteners but just the flavorings were bothering me.  I now buy only plain unflavored seltzer, and add a bit of lemon or lime juice, or apple cider, or whatever other natural fruit juice I have around.  Sometimes for a treat, a splash of lemonade or limeade.  The result is a drink of very few calories, very tasty and refreshing, without that nasty clingy sweetness or loaded with chemicals.  

And yes, the kids drink it, too.  

If you want to replace Mountain Dew, try a can of plain seltzer with some lemonade or limeade in it, maybe add some extra plain lemon or lime juice to make it stronger flavored.  

 

We're guilty of kiddo drinking it too. Kiddo saw us drinking it when she was... old enough to drink from a can. We called it "spicy water" for her, to get the point across that it would hurt. She loved it. Oops. Now we go through way too much spicy water.

On the other hand, as long as you're prudent about when you're brushing your teeth before and after the spicy water, there are no negative health impacts. Just water. And my beer consumption has gone down about 90% since I got on the spicy-water band wagon.

Appleseed said:

Its snowing in Northern Illinois.

So... I should mount my snow tires tonight?

Posted from 300 Miles Downwind

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

Appleseed said:

Its snowing in Northern Illinois.

So... I should mount my snow tires tonight?

Posted from 300 Miles Downwind

Never do today, what you can put off until it's too late. 

I hate myself sometimes.   Why do I need this in my life?  Why am I like this?

I thought I was just tired but no, the fever says that I'm sick.  Berk.

RonnieFnD said:

I hate myself sometimes.   Why do I need this in my life?  Why am I like this?

Maybe you need the Focus kit and not the Fiesta kit?

In reply to RonnieFnD :

OK, the Taco Trucks are adorable. 

We had our solar panels installed on August 9th. Since then it failed the first inspection and the inspector basically just walked away without an explanation. The second inspector pointed out that the conduit ran right by the gas meter and that there was a keep out zone around the meter (NEMA Code). The electrician came back and moved the conduit but left a hole in the stucco where the original conduit was run. He told me he'd be back to fix it before the inspection but never returned. The inspector showed up today and basically said that the electrical passes, but the hole in the wall and main panel need to be repaired before he can sign us off. I paid for your services based on the idea that you would handle all of this for me. I shouldn't have to play general contractor or constantly call or email your team to do their jobs. 

Engineers, please stop trying to solve a problem that's already being fixed.  

Somebody just put a meeting on my calendar for later today.  That's fine and all, but I just know that they're going to say something incredibly stupid.