I don’t particularly like fast food. I have nothing against eating out (obviously), but I’ve never been one for fast food.

I remember the day I discovered the drive-thru—I think I’d been working at Apple for a couple of years already. I was thirsty and discovered you could get a drink without leaving your car! Pretty cool.

When I take the kids out for lunch, usually we go to a “fast casual” place like Bakers Square or Mimi’s Cafe or something. I’ve taken them to McDonald’s four times that I can remember, all within the past few months: 1)in May, on our drive up the coast from LA when we were moving; 2)in June, when I took the kids down to LA for a few days; 3)in July, when I was exhausted and just had to find some place quick to take them; and 4)a few days ago, we got some Happy Meals for them and a salad for me and went to the Y to eat.

What amazes me isi how passionate Sophia is about McDonald’s. I don’t know why. It scares me, actually.

Last week, she was sleepy and saying she wasn’t hungry…until she saw where I was heading, and then she was perky and eager and very, very hungry. And then on Friday after school she started complaining that she was hungry and wanted chicken and fries, so I began wondering where we could go…and she said, “I saw a place back there. It has a big M.”

Okay, frightened now.

Is it the toys? The colors? I’m pretty sure it’s not the food—I would hope Sophia knows from decent chicken by now.

Clearly, I am never taking them to McDonald’s again. This is no great hardship for me. It’s just weird to have to decide to do that.

At the Y today I was talking to another mom about the preschool her daughter attends and she waxed rhapsodically, “Oh, it’s fabulous! It’s academic, and she knows all of her colors…” She listed some other things the preschool did, including the beginnings of subtraction, but I was somewhat floored by the first one she came out with.

Colors?

Your kid had to go to preschool to learn colors?

This wasn’t the first mom I’ve talked to who’s said something like this about the preschool they use. Another mom told me about how her 3 year old had learned how to count up to thirteen and knew all her letters!

Okay, I don’t think we’ve pushed Sophia. Maybe we have and I’m just not aware of it, but…hello? She’s known her letters for, uh, a long time. She knows her colors—she even knows how to mix certain colors to make other colors (unless she’s completely disinterested in the topic, in which case she says she has no idea).

Are these parents talking to their kids? Reading anything to them?

I’m thrilled to pieces when Sophia starts singing a song she learned in school. But her colors? Good Lord.