Fatty McToddlers

It seems almost impossible to blog about life when you have life happening, if that makes sense. 
I was listening to the radio today on the way home from work and they were talking about fast food and kids.  I'm not totally granola in that I've let Cece go to McDonald's on more than one occassion, BUT I can't imagine giving it to her on a daily basis.  Parents complain that their kids will only eat junk, but where the heck did the kids get the junk?  The parents.  Kids are no different than grown-ups.  If they're hungry and they see a cookie or an apple, they'll pick the cookie.  If they're given an apple with no other choice, they're going to get hungry enough to start eating the apple.  It seems parents are so afraid their kids are going to starve, so they give in and give the kids junk.  Of course these kids are going to start craving horrible foods.  It's just bad parenting, and I hate to sound judgmental, but I do get on a high horse about this.  Sure, we all take shortcuts here and there, but to constantly allow your kids to eat crap?  No way.  I used to work on the Jenny Jones show and I'll never forget for one show it was my job to literally wrangle the fat babies if they got close to the stage's edge.  It was a show about way overweight babies--I'm talking like a 110 pound 4-year old.  The parents thought it was their job to give the kids whatever they wanted whenever they wanted and they found nothing wrong with that.  It's sad b/c it comes from a place of love--the parents want their kids to be happy, but it soon crosses the border into being extremely irresponsible.  Our kids are not supposed to love and adore us at all times.  We're going to make decisions for them that they absolutely hate, but in the long-term it's forming good habits.  Hell, we'd all choose potato chips over steamed broccoli, so we can't expect kids to be any different.
Today Cece was whining that she wanted cereal while I made dinner and I refused b/c there's no way she'd want dinner if she ate that.  So, I just quietly put down a bowl of cooked beets and walked away.  She eventually began eating them.  Whew!  It doesn't always work, but it's all about setting down the rules and making junky food be a special treat instead of the norm. 
I've heard people say they're too busy to cook for their kids, so they have to eat out and I find that so hard to believe.  I'm not saying it's easy, but we as parents have to find time.  It's just so much more than just putting food on the table--it's literally setting your kids up to be healthy adults who make healthy choices in the future.
I know I'm totally ranting and being one of "those moms" but dang, this is a pet peeve of mine.