Help Us, Gail Simone...

...you're our only hope.

OK, maybe not.  But I'd like to think she'd at least understand my complaint here (yes, I'm going to complain again.  That wasn't my original intention with this blog, but it does seem to be what I end up writing about a lot).

I was in Target today looking for a birthday present for a little girl (not my own).  My LG was with me, though, and we went to see if there were any books we'd like to get for the birthday girl.  I had forgotten (bad Mommy!) that today was the day that I Am Wonder Woman (I Can Read Book 2) came out (you might recall LG has a Wonder Woman obsession).  Well, while we were looking at the books, I saw I Am Superman (I Can Read Book 2), which reminded me.  But no, Target didn't have it.  That's OK - they don't claim to have the world's largest book selection.  So I started looking at the other books (theoretically for Tinkerbell, but that's another story) and noticed that there were several early reader superhero books.  Besides Superman, Target had Batman Classic: Meet the Super Heroes: With Superman and Wonder Woman (I Can Read Book 2), which made LG very happy, because even though they didn't have the Wonder Woman book, they had a book with Wonder Woman in it.  Then I noticed some Super Friends books. Excellent!  Surely Wonder Woman would be in those! Hmmm...Super Friends: Flying High (DC Super Friends) (Step into Reading)...nope, no Wonder Woman.  Super Friends: Going Bananas (DC Super Friends) (Step into Reading)...no Wonder Woman there either.  Brain Freeze! (DC Super Friends) (Step into Reading)...hmm, missing there too.  I will admit here that I only flipped through the books, I didn't look at them really carefully.  I'm hoping that I managed to miss Wonder Woman in all three books, and that LG managed to miss her in the one she looked at.  Sadly, though, I don't think that's the case.

OK...so now I'm noticing a pattern here.  First, Target has a TON of early reader superhero books (there were a bunch of Marvel ones also).  But, no, they don't have the brand new Wonder Woman book.  I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt here.  It was just released today, and some sites are actually showing a release date of tomorrow.  So maybe they WILL carry it, but they just haven't gotten it yet.  I'll have to remember to check on that in a week or two (though we'll be receiving it on Thursday through  Amazon Prime).

But can someone, anyone, tell me why exactly Wonder Woman seems to have been removed from the Super Friends?  I don't understand...I know, she's a girl, which might scare away the highly-coveted non-reading little boy demographic, but Wonder Woman really should be there.  A very brief bit of research indicated that the books are based on the Mattel toy line, which from what little I could find on it seems to have eliminated Wonder Woman from its basic Super Friends line up.

Of course, this follows up on the heels of a weekend visit to a local comic store that has a huge number of action figures, and not a Wonder Woman in sight (apparently the only one they had in stock had been sold shortly before our visit).  Why only one Wonder Woman figure?  Needless to say, LG is getting very disappointed by the lack of Wonder Woman stuff in the world, and I'm starting to run out of explanations for her.

We won't even go into the looks we get at McDonald's when we get a kid's meal with a side salad and a Batman toy instead of the doll.

McDonald's Wins

As a follow up to my last post about Wendy's refusing to let LG have a side salad with her kids' meal, I decided to try an experiment.  LG likes McDonald's chicken McNuggets...but she doesn't like the apples that are the alternative to fries.  So tonight, I decided to try an experiment.  I asked if it would be possible to get a side salad with the Happy Meal instead of the apples or fries.  And, wonder of wonders, they said, "Sure, no problem."

LG's response tonight?  "I never want to get apples or fries at McDonald's again.  Only salads."

McDonald's wins.

Healthy Eating for Kids at Wendy's?

Nope. Not if you want a salad with a kids' meal.

We were at the mall yesterday, and LG got hungry.  It was past lunchtime, so I really couldn't blame her, and a hungry 4 year old is not a lot of fun to take around looking for school clothes.  Malls, of course, know this and build convenient food courts for their patrons.  So far, so good.  Mall food court food isn't exactly known for its nutritional and health values, but we have a few decent options.  So we go look at the new sub-and-wrap place.  No kids' menu, and LG has decided that she doesn't like provolone, which is the only cheese this place has, and she has to have turkey and cheese, not just turkey.  OK.  We'll skip the fact that she does like provolone, because that's a battle I'm not going to win at this particular time.  There's a Wendy's right next to the sub-and-wrap place, and she decides she wants chicken nuggets.  Again, OK, not the best thing in the world, but there's worse out there.

Normally when LG wants to go to Wendy's it's because she wants the mandarin oranges she can have as a side for the kids' meal (the alternative to fries).  But not this time.  This time she wants the chicken (and ranch...really, I think it's the ranch that's the appeal here) and a salad (again, I think the ranch is really the appeal, but am I going to argue with a 4 year old who ASKS for a salad?  Not a chance!).  OK, so they have side salads as an option for a side for the value meals.   So I order...and I think everything's fine.  Then someone behind our cashier says something to her, and the next thing I know, the cashier tells me that they can only give side salads with the regular value meals.  Kids only get to have oranges or fries.  What?  Isn't the entire fast food industry supposed to be frantically trying to prove that they have healthy food and they're not contributing to childhood obesity?  Apparently not Wendy's, or not this one, at least.

So I tell LG, "I'm sorry kiddo, they say no salad with the kids' meal," and I can see the tears starting and the tantrum building.  Great.  I look at the cashier, and to her credit, she does look sympathetic, and she glances over at the woman who spoke to her, who happens to be the manager.  The manager just stares back, and the cashier looks back at me.  Right.  No help there.  So, I tell LG, "Don't worry, you can still have a salad.  You just can't have it with a kids' meal.  So you have to choose...a kids' meal with oranges and the toy, or chicken nuggets and a salad we buy separately, but no toy."

To my surprise, and LG's great credit, she didn't even hesitate before she said, "I want the salad."  I have to say, I was very proud of her, but not so proud of Wendy's.