Posted on 09/11/2007 6:34:11 AM PDT by Hydroshock
Kamyra L. Harding never gives her son coffee or soda, and rarely opts for treats such as chocolate cupcakes. But about twice a month, the mom does give in to her 4-year-old son Garrett David Brand’s request for a Chai tea latte from Starbucks.
“People here already know us,” Harding said on a recent visit to a Starbucks on New York's Upper West Side. “They know we want extra milk.”
Garrett has been a regular Starbucks customer since “he could hold a cup,” his mother says. Now when he passes a Starbucks he says, “I want to buy this tea.”
Starbucks, keenly aware of the pitfalls of being seen as trying to lure kids to drink sweet, caffeinated beverages, has for years insisted that it does not market to children — even as stroller traffic jams build outside some stores and teenagers pack others.
Now, however, the company is revising its stance on kids, acknowledging that the under-18 set has become part of the coffee chain’s customer base.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
All I get from there is hot chocolate, during the winter it’s their peppermint hot chocolate.
“Give me 2 tall lattes and 1 ritalin. To go.”
No worries. These upper west (and east) side kids are probably already on Ritalin, so drink up!
Tea does not contain all that much caffeine. The effect is different from coffee. I can drink tea all day and never get strung out. One cup of coffee and I am wired.
Sipping a cup of Golden Nepal-Kanyam Estate 2nd Flush
That’s m’ boy!
It’s interesting: when I was growing up, coffee seemed to be treated as some kind of dangerous drug that was strictly off-limits to kids. Now they’re all Red Bull junkies. ;)
Sounds like he's ready to move on to another product from Columbia.
“Here is your coffee Johnny.....and have a good day at school.”
Did you ever get a chance to try Chantico? It was available during 2005 only - got yanked for poor sales.
It was the best hot chocolate EVER. It was like drinking a melted Hershey bar.
If caffeine did anything to me, I’d drink at least one of those daily.
My dad was a carpenter, he always had coffee in the morning, he started to serve it up to me when I was 6.
I don’t know if I would want to drink melted chocolate. It seems a bit thick to me.
Good for them. I love the Free Market. :)
a. If you’re stupid enough (as a parent) to let your kid get hopped up on caffeine, you can always give him a Ritalin tab later in the day, Right? *SMIRK*
b. As a parent, you can say “NO” to Starbucks, just as you do to Mountain Dew, or other things you don’t want young children to have. When my boys were teens, they could have junk if they wanted it, but they had to spend their OWN money on it. That kept the Mountain Dew & Cheeto consumption down to a very manageable level.
c. I get the feeling that this author is one step away from calling for regulation of caffeine for kids, which smacks of “Nanny Stater” to me. I’m from a very German family; we had coffee from toddler-hood on, with lots of milk and sugar.
d. Big deal. *SHRUG*
That’s not what it was, only what it tasted like - it was intense. Much the Euro-style drinking chocolate.
Oh, in that case, maybe I would try it.
Think about this: When kids forget their Ritalin, the teachers give them caffeine. It has the same effect although for a shorter period.
Sweet, mother of pearl!! What a rush!
I started drinking coffee around the same age 4 or 5. It was mostly milk with a shot of coffee.
Of course that was back in the days of living on a farm and as a kid I did not sit around all day and watch TV. I was too busy playing outside, so any effects of caffeine were burned outside.
Mariebelle Aztec Hot Chocolate from Williams-Sonoma is scrumpy! 63% cacao. That’ll get your motor started. :)
It’s at http://www.williams-sonoma.com
Ritialin is probably safer than caffeine. I get horrible withdrawal symptoms if I consume even 2 cups of tea a day for a few days and then forget the second cup one day — intense headache to the point of causing me to vomit, and completely disabling me for several hours. With Ritalin, I have zero withdrawal effects — I can take it during the work week and then skip it on the weekends with no problem (and that dosing pattern is often prescribed for kids). I’ve read that lots of kids get headaches on weekends because they have access to caffeinated drinks on school days, but then spend their weekends with parents who won’t provide them with caffeinated drinks.
What kind of tea are you drinking?
Wow, was the world moving in slow motion for him after that ? (Reminds me of the Futurama episode when Fry drinks 100 cups of coffee bought with his tax return).
This school year, my 13 year-old son’s day begins before 7 am now. He’s becoming a coffee drinker. That’s fine.
You'd be surprised...
A 0.44 ounce shot of Stok Black Coffee Creamer contains 40 milligrams of caffeine.
The "non-dairy creamer" shots come from Whitewave foods under the Stok brand. There is a "sweet" version and a non-sweetened version.
Cover of the tub reads "Black coffee shot. Equivalence: 1 shot espresso. 1 svg delivers 40mg caffeine. Limit 2/day. Warning: High Caffeine."
I discovered those a coupla months ago.
There grrr-rrreat!
Where can I get that????
CHANTICO.....my husband and I would share one of those....that was dessert!
Same here. I drink a pot of coffee a day. I have my first cup waiting for me as soon as I crawl out of bed at 4:45am and finish the last cup before 10:00am and then I don't drink caffeinated or sweetened beverages the rest of the day. But if I don't have that first cup of coffee, I'll get mind-crushing headaches worse than any hangover I've ever had.
Yeah, I loved that stuff. Its poor sales certainly weren't my fault. ;)
My old man caught me drinking coffee at 13 and whupped me royal with a belt. In his opinion, it was just like beer. For adults only.
I buy my stok from a guy on the corner at 9:30 every evening....just kidding...
I get them at a local quick stop gas station. Bet they are in truck stops.
.....Bob
That dose would be toxic for most of the population. It sure would be for me!
“One guy last week had a large coffee with 4 shots of espresso washed down with a red bull.”
Sheesh. That would send me to the toilet for hours.
30 years ago I only knew one kid who drank coffee in high school. He liked to go to the HoJo and drink a whole pot before class.
Thanks!
I have to have 20oz of french roast in the morning just to get my hear started. I once in high school made a pot for studying for finals, 12 cups of water, 6 no doz, 6 scoops of grounds, and 6 scopps of instant. I was taking an English final essay test and had a page per minute rate that would have made a laser print self conscious.
I can just see all those post-preggy, pretty moms pulling up to their local StarStrucks in their pale purple Pious pedal cars and pulling out the Perego P3 luxury stroller for an afternoon pick-me-up with best friend and son, Percy C.
“’zat?”
“It’s coffee.”
“Want some.”
“No you don’t, kids don’t like coffee. It isn’t ‘til you get older and you taste buds change that you’ll like it.”
“Want some!”
*shrug* “OK, but you probably won’t like it.”
I gave him the cup.
A little sip. Contemplative look. Empty cup in a single gulp.
“Want more!”
Mom made him some decaf. One sip, he wrinkled his nose, set it on the table and walked away.
Where does a 3 yo get a taste for coffee, the ability to distinguish regular from unleaded, and a preference????
Well, my family was a little more relaxed about it when I was a kid. I always liked coffee when I was little. My parents frowned on my drinking coffee, but I usually got a little bit here and there. My mother would let me have a little bit of coffee with a lot of milk, or a sip from her cup.
I remember once visiting my grandfather, my mother’s father. He offered me a cup of coffee. I said yes, of course! I don’t think I was more than seven or eight. My mother flipped! “You never let US drink coffee when we were little,” she protested. He gave her a look that seemed to say, “Bug off, will ya? I want to spoil my grandson a little.”
And clearly, she was more miffed that he'd never let her drink it as a little one than she was upset by the idea of letting me drink an entire cup of full-strength coffee.
So, my father and mother conferenced for a bit. They came back with the following decision, “He can have it. But only if he drinks it black!” They figured I’d be put off by the strong, bitter taste of the mud my grandfather brewed. I gleefully accepted. I took a sip. It WAS strong and bitter! It was hard to drink. But I wasn’t going to let on how it assaulted my tastes! I drank the whole cup, much to my parents' dismay.
Thanks, Grandpa!
sitetest
No web with Meth. The spider just sat in the corner gouging holes in its skin trying to get the bugs...
Whether here in New Jersey or down in Miami, Starbucks have effectively become “bars” for our youth. The problem I have is when 15 of them congregate in front sipping their vanilla fraps while they block the door with their skateboards.
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