It's called PARENTING. Try it sometime.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest wants to sue McDonald's because they say...

"McDonald's marketing has the effect of conscripting America's children into an unpaid drone army of word-of-mouth marketers, causing them to nag their parents to bring them to McDonald's." (Source)

I read that and thought... And?

Of course kids nag. It's one of the things they're best at. They nag when the ice cream truck comes around, when they pass a mini golf course, in the toy aisle at the store, after almost every commercial they ever see, and yes, they nag about McDonalds. And Wendys...and Sonic...and Jack in the Box...and Pizza Hut...

If my daughter nags me to take her to McDonalds because she wants the latest Happy Meal toy, you know what I do? I say no. Usually. Sometimes - very rarely - I say yes and she gets excited and we go and she gets her Happy Meal and we talk and goof off and have a great time. And eventually I throw the Happy Meal toy in the garbage and she never even misses it.

So what if she eats chicken nuggets and french fries once in a while? She also eats vegetables and fruits and whole grains and lots of homemade meals too.

I say no to my kids a lot - way more than I say yes. I say no about all kinds of stuff like staying up too late, eating marshmallows for breakfast, playing hookey from school, watching inappropriate movies, and wearing shorts and flip-flops in the middle of winter. Sometimes they get mad and sometimes they don't. But either way, I'm still the mom and I'm still in charge.

And guess what? My kids still love me. They want to talk to me and hang around with me and listen to me read bedtime stories. The younger ones climb into my lap to cuddle and cover my face with kisses and the older ones come to me to talk about their thoughts and feelings. They want to go places with me and sit at the piano and sing songs with me and my daughter draws pictures of us together with hearts above our heads.

Toys in happy meals is not some diabolical plan to let kids take over the world. This kind of lawsuit is just another way for weak, ineffective parents to justify their failure to do their freaking job.

Hey parents, may I humbly entreat you to - GROW A PAIR!!