Comments on: Kyle’s Coupons: 10 Solid Parenting Hacks

By: Allison

Allison — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 20:03:07 +0000

I agree with Hannah and Glenn. Kids don’t need to eat meat. There are plenty of other ways to get protein. I am a 15 year vegetarian and gave birth to a 10 lb boy. Now at two, he’s in the 95% for height and 70% for weight: lean and tall, but not skinny and healthy. He loves egg salad, tofu sticks, beans, meatless meatballs quinoa and nuts. Occasionally he eats meat, but only turkey meatballs.

A focus group of one observation is not a convincing argument!

By: Lynnae

Lynnae — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 03:23:16 +0000

@Robert, I hadn’t heard that about Restaurant.com. Thanks for pointing that out. Since they don’t really have many deals in Southern Oregon, I’ve never actually tried Restaurant.com.

By: HoneyBrown

HoneyBrown — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 21:24:02 +0000

If you don’t care to eat animals or animal by-products, more power to you. Just be educated about proper vegetarian or vegan nutrition, otherwise you’ll end up like the family Glenn mentioned (which likely has more to do with poor nutrition overall and bad genetics than simply following a vegetarian diet.

But back to the subject at home: FAMILY!

#2 — Love the dollar store grab-bag deal for travel. My mother always did that for us kiddos, especially when we took the 8 hour drive to visit her family once or twice a year. And get this: at the half-way point, where we’d stop to refuel and refresh, we’d eat a lunch that MOM HAD PACKED! Who would have thought that was possible (/end sarcasm) No trip in to Bob’s Big Boy or McDonald’s. I find it sad that most parents can’t seem to take their kids for even a short drive without having the DVD player turned on :(

#4 — Kids won’t eat their meat (or beans or veggies): try COOKING WITH YOUR KIDS! Let them participate in meal planning and meal preparation. Sometimes that goes a long way to help finicky eaters enjoy food.

Have fun :)

By: Kyle

Kyle — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 15:14:21 +0000

I would agree with Glenn that surely you could get by without meat and be fine, but a juicy steak just tastes so darn good!

By: Glenn

Glenn — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 15:30:42 +0000

People do not need to eat meat, plain and simple. Quoting a single example to the contrary is not very convincing. There are some cultures that do not eat, some Buddhists and Hindus do not eat meat at all. Do they have midget children? It is very likely the kids you speak of did not have a properly balanced diet.

As for protein the source is not important. It is unlikely that anyone would need more than 60 grams of protein per day, 75 grams if you are a body-builder. Even an adolescent boy shouldn’t need more than about 55 grams per day. That is easy to get through non-meat sources. For instance:
serving of beans: 7G
serving or rice: 3G
1 cup of soy milk: 6G

For me personally I probably get about 50-60 grams of protein a day from non-meat sources.

By: boybunny

boybunny — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 05:33:30 +0000

Children DO need protein from meats. The surveys vegetarians speak of are all from vegetarian lobby groups, and do not stand up to scrutiny.

In fact when I was a teenager, I lived close to a vegetarian family. The parents were average height, but the children starved of protein from meat were pathetically small and under developed. The eldest at 17 years old was only one inch off being an official dwarf, and looked emaciated even at that height. He had also not hit puberty at seventeen. The younger of the two was worse off, but casual observers could argue that he still had a lot of growing to do

Social Services came in and forced the parents to feed the boys meat, and within six months both had started puberty and both had put on four inches in height.

no, neither had any other medical help.No growth hormones, no dietary supplements.

By: Kyle

Kyle — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 19:45:31 +0000

Hannah, fine. If your kids don’t eat there beans, nuts, and other vegetables then try a dipping sauce!

By: Robert Johnson

Robert Johnson — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 19:31:11 +0000

Another nice post! I would however caution you about putting up links to offers from Restuarant.com. There have been several articles on multiple blogs that indicate that are not very reputable (offer deals at restaurents that don’t their certificates) and signing customers for a $14.95 monthly “service” when they buy a gift certificate. Here are some links on the Consumerist.com blog:

http://consumerist.com/5159826.....com-coupon

http://consumerist.com/5141188.....ly-service

I thought you and your readers might like to know.

Again, keep up the great work on the blog! It is great to read!

By: Hannah

Hannah — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 17:35:18 +0000

I disagree wholeheartedly with the step regarding kids and eating meat. Studies show that the protein in meat is superfluous (unless your kid is a body-builder) and in fact most protein isn’t even absorbed into the body. There are healthier, less fatty ways to get kids the actual amount of protein they need, particularly from beans, nuts, and other vegetables.

By: Catherine

Catherine — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 14:45:30 +0000

Re: #2 – Wrap the toys in some wrapping paper (or the sunday funnys!) to make it even more extra special!