🍽 What's Your Food Parenting Style?

Dadpack Digest, V12 🍟

The holidays might be over but as the "tripledemic" rages on, kids are at the mucus-filled center of it. And a big part of winning that battle involves getting little ones to take their medicine. As for how to do that? It's any dad's guess...

For instance, Scott, turns med-time into happy hour shots, whereas Tyler bribes his sons to take medicine with McDonald's. So what's your trick? It's mostly a matter of picking your poison.

This Week From Dadpack

• 🍏🌭 How your parenting style influences your kid's diet: Whether you're an authoritarian or authoritative can have a lot to do with your preschooler cleaning their plate or not.

• 🗞📰 In case you missed it: For whatever reason (read: tiny humans), you didn't have time to scroll while recovering from a holiday sugar hangover. We got you covered.

• 💅🎁 Great recommendations: If you were so focused on your kid's this Christmas that you whiffed on your wife's gift, there are a number of affordable ways to redeem yourself with an epic "just because" present.

• ❤️💉💍 Inoculate yourself from divorce month season: The month of January has many couples rushing to separation, but some simple yet poignant advice should help you keep your marriage strong.

You Are What Your Kid Eats, Study Says

Sure, you might sneak-eat a burger in your car when you’re sad, but that doesn’t mean you want your kid to do the same. In fact, research shows that the eating habits children develop in preschool can stick with them throughout adulthood, for better or worse, so it’s pretty important to lay the right foundation.

And if an apple a day keeps the doctor away, how do you get a kid to like them apples without shamelessly quoting “Good Will Hunting''? Or rather, how do you raise a tiny human to have a healthy relationship with food?

A new study suggests that your parenting style may have a lot to do with it. There are four main parenting styles and experts agree that authoritative parenting, or caretakers who are emotionally present sensitive to children but consistently enforce certain rules and parameters, are the most favorable type. Authoritarian parenting, or caretakers who harshly enforce rules and are not sensitive to children’s emotions, is the most harmful style.

Researchers interviewed the parents of 511 children ages two to six about their parenting style and kid’s eating habits. For instance, on a scale of one to five, participants agreed with statements like “my child eats more when worried,” and “you threatened to punish your child and then do not actually punish him/her.”

While positive, authoritative parents didn’t affect their children’s eating habits one way or another, harsher authoritative parenting styles that included spanking and other forms of corporal punishment lead to more emotional overeating, more reactivity to food, and not feeling full despite overeating.

But even if you’re not a harsh parent, the researchers found that parents who were inconsistent did similar damage. “High levels of inconsistent parenting were associated with high levels of food responsiveness, emotional overeating, enjoyment of food, but also emotional undereating, food fussiness and unexpectedly with satiety responsiveness,” study authors concluded.

This echoes past research that inconsistent parenting had a significant influence on the risk of developing pediatric obesity, compared to other parenting styles that did not. In the end, saying one thing and doing another as a dad could set your kid up for a lot of health problems including eating disorders and obesity. So you better hope they never catch you inhaling that burger in the driveway.

Good News, Dad News

• ✈️🖕 After a winter storm and flu and Covid-19 surge, Southwest cancelled upwards of 15,000 flights and is in such a state of meltdown that it's prompted a federal investigation. So far much of the blame has been placed on antiquated software. And while the airline plans to reimburse customers for the inconvenience and claims to be back to business as usual, it's fair to say being in boarding group C will no longer be your biggest issue.

• ✏️👀 The days of "embellishing" on your resume may be over (if they weren't already), as calls for Republican Congressman-elect George Santos to resign mount, after he got caught lying about where he went to college and being the descendent of a Holocaust survivor, among other things. It's quite the rookie political move to be dishonest about something that can be so easily fact-checked, instead of about something more ambiguous... like being a good person.

• 🎶🐭 Jeremiah Green, the drummer of the indie rock band Modest Mouse and father of one, passed away this past weekend from cancer. He was only 45-years-old and his final album released with the band was fatefully titled "Golden Casket" in 2021.

• 🔥🏎 In an epic burn, climate change activist Greta Thunberg eviscerated manosphere influencer Andrew Tate after he arrogantly requested the teenager's email on Twitter. About 10 hours later, Tate posted video trying to reassert his masculinity with a cigar and pizza box. But when Tate was arrested in Romania for allegations of human trafficking, it was Thunberg who proved to have the biggest dick.

Best Sales To Spoil Your Spouse

Above all else, the holidays are for babies. Recreating those special childhood memories for your kids is what matters most, and your partner understands that you might exchange gifts that are more afterthoughts. Maybe you bought them a sweater they already have. ("But I thought you really, really like it!") Or perhaps it was an exercise device they didn't ask for and took as a thinly veiled hint.

Either way, there are plenty of sales in the New Year for you to express your appreciation

For the fashion Wife Guy: From now until January 4th, you can get up to 70 percent off Madewell clothing and make a fun dad joke pun about how your thought the clothing was "made well."

For the pampering Wife Guy: If you've ever passed out during your partner's long skincare routine, then Peace Out's 35 percent off sale through January 2nd may be for you. Or if she's more of a cosmetics gal, get her some It Cosmetics Superhero Mascara, on Amazon $16.90, marked down from $26 on Amazon.

For the fitness Wife Guy: If your spouse loves a comfortable matching set, the sustainable brand Girlfriend Collective is having a sale starting at 30 percent off through January 8th. Not to be outdone, the athletic wear brand Outdoor Voices is having a sale of up to 70 percent off. Just make sure she's into yoga before you by her yoga pants, because come on.

Not a Wife Guy at all: For every other significant other or spousal situation, there are plenty of just because presents on sale right now that would go over well. If you're looking to nest, Ikea is having a winter sale through January 22. And if you want everyone in your house to have cleaner butts, Bio Bidet by Bemis is offering discounted bum cleaners through January 4th.

Apologies to all and to all a goodnight.

Parting Paternalism: Show People They Matter

Many legal experts refer to January as "divorce month" because of the spike in cases they see. The main reason for this is that couples hanging on through the holidays decide finally give up and call it quits.

“Stress levels during the holidays are exacerbated by the stress of the marriage and they don’t want to deal with both of these situations,” Russell I. Marnell, principal lawyer at the Marnell Law Group told Reader’s Digest. “A couple that is struggling to maintain a marriage may often be prompted to consider divorce as part of one or both of the partners’ self-evaluation that comes with the new year. Many people make New Year’s resolutions to put their personal lives in order, even if that includes ending an unhealthy marriage.”

For married couples that have hit a rough patch in the New Year, a recent advice thread on Reddit might help. A user posted in the the Ask Men group, "what are the unspoken rules for successful marriage?" And the top rated comment is crucial to remember when times get tough, yet easy to forget: Show your partner they matter.

That's it. That's the secret.

There are a lot of ways to do this. Whether it's taking an interest in things they're excited about, never keeping secrets even over small things, or simply grabbing them a Starbucks on your way home, letting your partner know they matter is a lot like porn: they know it when they see it.

So don't overthink it, just do it.

Polling Your Leg