A harried parent takes exception to my cereal politics:
"I think many parents would welcome bans on advertising targeting our kids because you just get sick of being the killjoy "no" machine. No, you may not have that cereal, it's crap. No, we're not getting pizza from Pizza Hut for dinner. No, we're not going to get Sunny D instead of OJ. No, you can't have Lunchables instead of lunch. On days when he gets to watch TV, our relationship is instantly transformed from that of child and provider to child and denier. The kid is being manipulated and you know it — and you are too, as a parent, because the advertisers know that you—or enough of you — will eventually cave."
Point taken. But no one said parenting was easy.