Author: Jennifer Mulchandani

After my last post I’ve received a few requests to know what happened!  First, my birthday boy had a great outing and I am very happy for that! Second, I did cave and ate with the family, but I lived to write about it 😉

As we drove to the nearest McD’s, I was saying to myself “I can’t believe I’m one of the ones blocking the left lane to pull into a gosh darned McD’s!”  I was struck by the FULL parking lot and the very long drive through line.  This place was VERY popular, on a Wednesday evening no less.

If you read the last post, you’ll remember that I wasn’t planning to eat McD’s.  My husband predicted I would.  I did, but not because I couldn’t resist the smell.   I restated my desire to not eat, and was surprised that DH wanted to eat.  He explained that by not eating we might make the 7 year old feel sad or bad or uncomfortable about his choice.  DH argued that this was a family celebration and that we should at least share something.

While we were in line to order we were STARING at the menu board, saying “wasn’t there a Sinefeld episode or some other comedian who snarked that who would ever need to look at a menu in a McDonald’s!”

I had a “squishy cheesburger” (a term I had for them in college, when I mostly desired them after 2am), and agreed to split with DH the fries that came with my 3 year old’s Happy Meal (since they contain dairy!)  The good news was that the Happy Meal fries are TINY now, so I only really ate a few.  All Happy Meals automatically come with the apple slices, which is great for my 3 year old 🙂

One positive of DS choosing McD’s over, say a Japanese Steakhouse (which he loves), dinner for 5 was a whopping $15.  DH and I didn’t eat much, but somehow I was full for a long time.

Now, I am not advocating McD’s here.  I didn’t like food, nor how I felt after eating it.  I didn’t like the mean kid who was bothering my kids in the play area, either.  And mostly I was annoyed that my kids like these burgers over Elevation Burger.  Its disturbing to me that the food is manipulated so much and yet the flavorings are powerful enough to make people LIKE the taste.  Food science, people, its called food science.

Perhaps in revolt of my experience, or perhaps the culmination of our family birthday season and holiday season and general food excesses, I have recommitted our family to our healthy eating agenda this week, and I feel so much better for it!  The meal plan and entire week’s grocery shop was done on Sunday, and I’m excited that we’ll be eating a variety of healthy, homemade food this week!

I hope you have a yummy week, too.

I know I am not the only mom out there who loathes feeding her kids fast food.  I’ve become a bit of a hardliner on the issue.  Over the years I have learned too much — working in the organic food industry; watching powerful documentaries like “Supersize Me” and “Food, Inc.”; and becoming personally engaged in an ongoing effort to improve what my family is eating and how we approach food in our home.

But when we aren’t at home, then what?  Clearly, most restaurants aren’t preparing organic food, and I’m ok with that for the amount that we eat out.  But I can’t bring myself to be “ok” with fast food.  And the kicker is that we can’t shake relaying on these purveyors of “food” — the hubby isn’t nearly as hard core as I on the subject, and the kids, well the kids are just not yet disgusted by it all.  (When can I let them watch those documentaries, that is another topic to discuss!)  And then we have the darned food allergy in the family which in a sick way sends us to fast food for the “known” quality that those places provide when we are far from home or our stash of safe food is gone while we’re on the road.

And then there are the times when the kids get to pick, like their birthdays.  I think we’d have a revolt in the house if I excluded fast food from the allowable options.  And part of me thinks that giving fast food an “untouchable” designation might just drive the kids to it more.  Everything I’ve learned about raising healthy eaters, much from the writing of Ellyn Satter, talks about the division of responsibility.  Parents buy and prepare food; kids decide if they will eat and how much.  Its around school age that kids start to get a role in deciding what to eat (in the Satter model) and here we are, my kids are deciding, for the bday dinner, to go to McDonald’s.

Did I eat at McDonald’s as kid?  Yes!  (And when my future 17 year old asks if I ever drank while in high school, I will have to answer that one honestly too won’t I?)  I ate at McDonald’s, Taco Bell (my personal favorite fast food) and every pizza establishment possible.  But I didn’t know better, did I?

So tonight, while I was secretly trying to persuade my 7 year old that we should celebrate his birthday at Chevy’s, where I could get a margarita, or at least trying to encourage the selection of a non-fast food restaurant for the birthday celebration tonight, I started to feel bad.  I don’t want me son to carry the weight of the “badness” of fast food with him on his special night, and he really thinks that the cheeseburger he can get there is the best cheeseburger in town.

I told my hubby that I won’t eat there; will wait till we are home.  He thinks I won’t be able to overcome the powers and will succumb to eating there as well.  I have a little heartburn just thinking about it.

So, moms and dads and know-it-all outside observers, what do you do when faced with this kind of dilemma?

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POSTSCRIPT
My newly minted 7 year old has been reading this over my shoulder, inquiring “why did you eat McDonald’s as a kid?” and “What does ‘loathes’ mean?”  He just said “we will go there!” (followed by “don’t mom, delete that!”) — so I guess my sharing my real feelings on the matter aren’t enough to influence him right now.