My kids are food snobs. They're not little gourmands or anything, but the idea of going to McDonald's is repulsive to them. Repulsive! Okay, so it's a little repulsive to me, too. But, when I was a kid there was nothing better than McDonald's. Unless it was Shakey's Pizza (Lillie asked me what my favorite restaurant was when I was a kid, and I told her Shakey's Pizza - although I probably went there once or twice ever - and she said, "Oh! They had shakes and pizza?" What a great idea.).

But, my kids go out to eat once a week at a minimum. It's not a novelty to them. They'd rather just eat at home.



My kids have never had a Twinkie and I'm sure they would think I was joking if I tried to serve them Tang with lunch. They would laugh at Bit-o-Honey, Chic-o-Stick, Now and Laters, and candy cigarettes. They'd probably think Freshen-up (the gum that goes squirt!) and Pop Rocks were cool, though.

If I tried to serve them the meals my mom did in the 1970's, that would be funny. I can't imagine their reaction to creamed tuna on toast, creamed peas, meatloaf, or liver and onions.

But, my kids have a hard time picturing life without internet, videos and video games. They think we're kidding when we say that if we had sassed our parents, we'd have been spanked or even slapped. Hard. On the face. They laugh and think we're joking. Grandma and Grandpa would never do that.

I don't want to give the wrong idea here. My parents didn't slap me around, but they had a level of authority over me that was backed up by the idea they could use physical force. My kids don't have that.