A smoking baby??

Watching this from an educated perspective, it may seem completely preposterous that someone would allow a 2 year old to smoke.  I mean, a child doesn't just pop by the store and whip out some of their hard-earned cash to purchase a pack of cigarettes.  They don't even have the hand-eye coordination to *light* a cigarette!  It's easy to look at this and wonder what is WRONG with those parents for doing that to their child.  Some would even claim it's child abuse!

But is it really so different from what we are doing to children in this country?  We raise them on diets loaded with saturated and trans fats, refined sugars, preservatives, unpronounceable chemicals, and dyes.  Our most consumed "vegetable" in this country is french fries.  We serve kids food that don't even resemble anything coming from nature.  Children can't even recognize common fruits and vegetables.  Toddlers are developing plaque in their arteries and early-onset diabetes.  Roughly one in four children in our country are actually obese!  This generation is expected to be the sickest ever.  And yet, parents continue to feed their children unhealthy foods that they refuse to eat themselves.

When we were children, there were no options at meal times... we ate what was given to us, or we didn't eat at all.  Have human beings changed that much?  I assure you, kids WILL eat.  And I know they'll throw a tantrum.  Or two. Or ten.  But who has allowed them to develop these bad habits?  And do you really want to be responsible for your own child's future health issues?

Remember when doing your best to lovingly stand your ground that you're doing it for THEM.  It may be hard to swallow, but they have developed these unhealthy habits because you have allowed it.  They were entrusted into your care for you to show them the way.  Please don't let them down.