Go ahead. Judge away.
I was scrolling through Facebook the other night when I saw a post by one of my friends complaining that McDonald’s now serves fries along WITH the apples in their Happy Meals. Did you know that? All Happy Meals now automatically come with fries and apples. Anyway…the first few comments were in agreement with her saying how “asinine” it was to basically thwart a parent’s plan to purchase a healthier option for their child when eating out by making the bag of apples smaller and making up for it with French fries.
And then it happened…
Someone left this as a comment - “Easy solution: don’t eat at McDonald's.” It was then followed up by someone else with a similar statement. The rest of the discussion remained friendly, and the first commenter even came back and said that she was being facetious, but it got me all riled up anyway.
I am SO SICK of the “perfect” parents out there who give me the side-eye because I let my children eat fast food. My husband and I both work full time, and we just need a break some nights. Do we eat fast food every day? No way! Do we eat it once a week? You bet! I do try to teach my kids about healthy eating, and for the most part, we try to feed them as healthy as possible, within the constraints of their picky eating habits. We also let them have “treats” occasionally, and there is nothing wrong with that.
My kids are both average height and weight, super smart and relatively healthy for being “daycare kids”. Yeah, I get the side-eye for that too, but that is a different post for a different day. They eat a ton of fruit, some vegetables, not much red meat, and take a multi-vitamin to make up for anything they might be lacking in on a daily basis.
I can assure you that chicken nuggets, apple slices and low-fat milk is a better dinner than some of the crap that children are served AT HOME. In fact, the “Eat This, Not That” book has touted that particular meal as the “Best Fast Food Kids Meal”. Of course now that the Happy Meal only contains a half serving of fruit with their smaller bag of apples, and has added fattening fries, that probably isn’t the case any longer, but we will just ask for two bags of apples instead of the fries from now on.
My kids love both McDonald’s and Chick-Fil-A. We usually go to Chick-Fil-A once a week and my kids eat more there than they do on any other night. They have chicken nuggets, applesauce and milk, and then they burn it all off on the playground. We don’t eat at McDonald’s quite as often, but we do eat there, and will continue to do so. It is a treat for my kids, and a nice break for us when we are just flat out of energy and don’t want to cook dinner.
This all boils down to the whole “everything in moderation” mentality and teaching your kids good eating habits. If you teach your kids how to eat properly on a regular basis and let them have the occasional treat of “bad” food, they will learn that it isn’t something you eat every day.
A couple months ago we were passing by McDonald’s and Bryce pointed and started shouting “McDonald’s! McDonald’s!” This was a few months after he started getting excited whenever he saw a Chick-Fil-A. At first, I was mortified. I couldn’t believe he was so excited about a fast food restaurant, and I was actually embarrassed that he knew what the golden arches were. That was stupid, though. So what if he likes McDonald’s? I do too!
So give me the side-eye all you want. I am perfectly comfortable feeding my kids fast food once a week, and I don't think I am a bad parent because of it. There are worse things I could be doing as a parent, that's for sure.
31 comments:
Amen sister mom! LOL!!! I agree with you 100%! There is nothing wrong with a child having a Happy Meal or being a "daycare kid"(was daycare teacher for 5 years!) for that matter! Everyone needs a break and a treat once in a while! I find it funny that some ppl preach about how bad eating fast food is but have you seen how crowded McDonalds and many other fast food places are at lunch time?? Makes you say hummmmm doesnt it? JMHO.
I agree too! I love McDonald's and I take my daughter there as a treat. She loves to go the "nugget store". Sometimes it is once a week and then there are times we don't go for months. It's nice to have that break from cooking. She knows it's a treat and not an every day thing. She is slim, energetic and very smart. I can't see where the problem is.
It's not just fast food, it's everything and I'm sick of it. Recently a blogger friend of mine posted something about parents who give their kids Flintstone vitamins (mine get them) and there's always someone ranting about chocolate milk, white bread (wheat bread gives my kid diarrhea--now that's a good time), high fructose corn syrup (as if artificial sweeteners are better) and on and on.
See you at Chick Fil A!
Thank you! My niece is very overweight, but it isn't because of fast food. It is because my sister lets her eat 6 full meals a day. My kids get fast food as an occasional treat and they love it. To look at me badly because of that is ridiculous. I sent an email to Mc Donald's months ago because in CA they were testing giving no toys if you got fries with your Happy Meal. It is terrible to do that to my kids. They like fries.
The people complaining about the fries with the apples also need to pay attention. Ask any Mc Donald's, and they will tell you that you can have double apples instead of fries.
A-FRIGGIN-MEN.
seriously.
and i was GLAD when they changed it so that both apples and fries came with the meal. why not?!? LIVE A LITTLE!! ugh. this is one topic that steams me- friends who NEVER give their angels fries or fast food or anything that's not organic, yet DROWN them in apple juice (organic, of course). are you kidding me??!
Yes, yes!! Honestly we don't eat Mcdonald's that often (mostly because of the price), but we do *gasp* order pizza at least once a week with *gasp* no side salad!!! I think the key is everything in moderation.
I do think that it is silly to get worked up about Mickey D's offering fries in addition to apple slices in their happy meals. I don't think fries once a week is going to hurt anyone and if someone is that concerned about the fry situation, maybe the best choice is just not to eat there at all. I mean, why go to Mcd's and NOT get fries, blasphemy!
Oh and we also use White Bread, sugary drinks, and even non-organic fruit!!! Flame me all you want, my kids are healthy, not overweight in the slightest, and smart as the dickens.
P.S- I formula fed my babies too (dodging the incoming bullets now).
I hate hate hate political correctness! The way you raise your kids is NO ONE'S business.
I just don't understand how this whole 'judge your neighbor' thing has gotten such a foothold in our country. And, it's reached the level of control and interference by the government - especially in the last three years - that's damned scary.
This didn't even exist 20 years ago ...you raised your kids the way you thought best and - short of child abuse - it was no one's business. Same goes for your own choices ...they were YOUR choices. This meme has definitely gained traction, though, and we have to start reversing it at some point.
Just this morning I read a comment along the lines of 'I saw a pregnant woman smoking a cigarette and I came this close to walking up to her and slapping her across the face.' ....WTH? When did we begin to believe we had the right to control other people's behavior??
You owe no one an explanation for your food choices and the control freaks who practice control-by-guilt need to be confronted and stood down: "I don't CARE what you think."
You are right! All the people that say you shouldn't let your kids eat mickey d's probably runs home and makes Mac & Cheese & Hot Dogs! All kids should experience McDonalds id they don't they are the ones deprived, after all potatoes are good for you. I am so glad there are still normal people out there who say fast food is ok once in a while and I like Big Macs too:)
Bothers me too. We eat at Mcdonald's.. It's cheap, my kids love it, and sometimes I don't have time to get them home for a more nutritious meal before preschool!!
This makes me smile because we too get busy and need to eat out about once a week. It's nice to have a break and treat your kids at the same time. We recently went to Mcdonald's and got the new kids meal. Funny thing was we were going to eat at Sonic but they were out of chicken nuggets. Idk how that happens but we went to Mcdonald's instead. Which really solved all our problems. At Sonic we had to ask DD if she wanted fries or Apples. At Mcdonald's we didn't have to do that. The portion of fries is so small, and it's a treat so who cares?! My DD ate her whole meal and had a blast. I get annoyed when parents say that fast food is a terrible choice. It's really not, it's what you decide to eat for yourself and your family. My DD loves Chick-Fil-A too but it's further from our house. But she always eats her chicken when we go there. I say more power to ya! As a working parent you need a break!
I was a stay at home mom of 5 children all a year apart. I also did and still do daycare. We did McDONALD'S, Taco Bell, and pizza were the kids favorites. On my husbands day-off each week we had Slurpee Day. My children still talk about that. We even do it with grandchildren at times. Many times I was to tired to cook after a 10 hour day plus the extra activities and homework. My children are grown and treat their children to fast food. Every thing was done in moderation. Good memories were created also.
I am the worse offender when it comes to fast food so I have nothing to say then to each is there own.
If it wasn't so bad for you I could so live on Taco Bell LOL!
I agree! We don't have any near fast food places like the ones listed but we have a local pizza resteraunt that we eat at entirely too much, lol. We have no clue what parents are feeding their kids at home, that's for sure. Everything in moderation is my motto.
Yeah we TRY to eat healthy but omg, we are the worst. We eat there MORE than once a week. I am home with these kids day in and day out. I need a damn break (um hello, when are we going to hang out LeeAnn)!!
Eff other people. Let them pretend on the internet that they are Mrs. Perfect with their food choices.
On a different note though, have you see the portion of the new happy meal fries?? It's a tiny box (seriously, it is the SAME SIZE as the toy McDonalds fry container my kids have in the toy box) and it comes with maybe 6 fries. I also, didn't think the apple bag was smaller. Either way, both my girls (20 months and 7 years) eat McDonalds food and yes, fries and guess what... they love them. Both my girls are beyond healthy and actually smaller than they should be in their weight.
I am sorry but I have to disagree with this post. Fast food is not a great substitute for healthy home cooked food even on a busy weekday. I would suggest trying to make extra meals, single servings in the freezer! They can be used on those busy days. You can even freeze single home made waffles, for example and the possibilities are endless to what you could try making beforehand when it's just one of those days. I also don't see what is wrong with advocating healthy eating and giving our kids the best jumpstart to their futures; the diets we provide them now will affect their future eating habits and lifestyles!
Also, I would also like to mention the fact that eating out at fast food chains and buying unhealthy foods is supporting businesses that are bad for the environment and bad for society as a whole. I can't apologize for the reality of the world we live in. Even if your family doesn't have weight problems, others do, and these businesses offering unhealthy food need to be boycotted. Just my $0.02!
Great post! I actually don't like McDonald's, but if we are in a hurry I definitely go through and get a Happy Meal, especially with the apple slices as a side. Actually, I got Hayden one and saw how it came with the fries. It's such a SMALL order also! I don't see it being a problem as a treat!
I agree. Every once in a while is okay. I think the reason fast food is looked at as so bad if because there are people who eat there every night. I mean we splurge and eat out probably once a week or every other week, but there is nothing wrong with a treat once in a while. I think by doing things like that you are teaching kids there is a healthy balance!
LOL, I got reamed on Facebook the other day because I posted a post with pictures of us going to McDonald's and said that a few years ago when I was a first time parent I was nervous to give my son juice. Because, apparently we aren't ever ever ever allowed to change our minds.
Fun times.
Everyone's a critic nowadays. Ugh.
Great post!
Great post girl! To each its own and to everyone else it's none of their business! :)
Enjoyed this post, I let the kids eat junk food occasionally and don't see anything wrong with that. Oh sure I've gotten the "evil" eye a time or two but hey too bad. No one should have a steady diet of McDonald's fries, burgers or fast food for that matter. So a treat every so often is just that a treat.
Great post. There are a lot of things I said I wouldn't do before I became a parent and about 100% of those things I find myself doing ;) I remember my mom took us for fast food when we were little and it was a treat for us. I take my daughter on about a weekly basis. She calls the hamburgers at McDonald's "Skyburgers" after I let her play that fun app. a while back. She also prefers the apples over the fries, even though I offer both. I have to say that I'm just as guilty of eating it, too. I usually get the small happy meal for portion control. I'm glad to see they put the apples in there. Everything is just the right size and my daughter loves it. In fact, most of her "dollhouse" toys are figures from the Happy Meals ;)
It's always something, isn't it?!? My kids only eat fast food once a month, and I don't have any problems with it! If you don't like it, don't eat there. Simple solution.
I agree with you,and it's not anyone else's job to judge others for how they eat. I used to love McDonald's... then I went vegetarian. I still occasionally eat fast food though and think that in moderation it's fine
Goodness gracious, finally a blogger who admits that she's not perfect! I love reading blogs and forming online relationships with the people behind them, but it seems there's a whole plethora of "goody goody two shoes" out there who want to project that their family does no wrong, eats no fast food, is organic and natural all the way, parents by the books, keeps their house spotless, breastfeeds only, and everyone else who doesn't should be burned at the stake.
I am with you. Everything in moderation. There is a difference if all you do is serve your kids fast food everyday all day. But they are still kids. I guess I am not perfect either. Darn, I thought I was....lol!
This post made me laugh. It feels like such a competition to be the "best" parent.
My daughter won't have McDonalds every night. My daughter also won't get all vegan, organic, and homemade meals either.
The parents who give you the side eye for giving your kids Happy Meals are the same ones that are going to go broke planning a 1st birthday. extravaganza.
Moderation is key!
We haven't been to fast food places in four years, since I got pregnant for the first time. It's just not something I like to eat, and it makes me sick - literally. But I don't judge moms who frequent fast food, my sister does! I think it is none of my business to judge your decision as a parent! :)
Everyone is busy. I am a single mom with a fast paced career. After watching food inc i decided to stop being lazy. I stopped pumping my kids up with drugs that relieved them from the symptoms of the harmfullness our food was makimg us. I got educated on the subject. my asthmedic daughter used to frequent the e.r. at least once a year. After switching organic she hasnt seen a hospital in 4 years. Its extra work, and i sometimes miss my fav tv show. Many say "we are not fat, or sick" but i think that is because they are used to feeling hortible all yhe time. I had know idea how good i could feel or how much sickness i could heal.
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