MIL & McDonalds

Dragonfly08

First off, unless you specifically said "please do not take them to fast food restaurants", the fault isn't theirs.  Three times in one weekend is probably excessive, but it's not like they're doing it all the time, right?  Next time, tell them you appreciate their wanting to spoil your boys but you'd prefer if they kept fast food to maybe once per visit.  And a PP is right...Chick Fil A isn't any better, you can get fruit as a side at most of the FF places these days.  I'll admit it's the only fast food my kids ever get but that's because they don't eat burgers and don't like the taste of the nuggets at McDs or BK.  If they did, those would be part of our (infrequent) FF rotation as well because they're no better or worse quality wise than CFA.  No, fries and cokes are not "good for our body" but I'm pretty sure neither is every single morsel you, or any of us, serve at home, either.  

My DH hates when I give our kids any sweets.  My philosophy is teach them moderation.  Food itself is not bad or good, it's just food.  How we treat it, how much of a particular item we eat and when, that's what we need to learn and monitor.  I think if you're eating at home 99% of the time, it absolutely ok to have "sub-standard" food the other 1%. 

-auntie-

Do you think your attitude about this- TBH you come off a tad pompous about your food choices- is driving you MIL to try and put some balance into your childrens' lives. BTW, Happy Meals come with apple slices these days.

I never knew Chick-Fil-A was superior to Micky D in any way. MeDonald's fries are world class.

Tofumonkey

I disagree with other posters - I do think it's a big deal. Not drama worthy, but I would be upset. I have dietary restrictions on my kids - they are vegetarians. If someone knowingly fed them meat I'd lose my ***.

Other things though - we don't eat fast food very often at all, and if we do the kids (and I) just get chips and juice or water. So we go for the chips. (veggie burgers at FF joints are vile). The monsters are 2 and have never had pop - I'm happy to keep it that way for as  long as humanly possible. They don't need it, they're hardly missing out on anything.

Now, if we went to see the grandparents in Canada once a year, as we do, and they took the kids out to McDonald's and gave them chips and juice, fine, happy days. If they gave them a burger and a coke they'd never be alone with the grandkids again. (more for the burger than the coke. For the coke I'd leave them alone with the twins until it wore off)

Perhaps your inlaws wanted to do something special for the kids that the kids would love, and don't know what to do other than food treats or food based celebrations. If you suggested things that the kids would go farking nuts over that isn't food based, like a local indoor play centre, swimming, painting rocks (OMG! ROCKS!!!) - then maybe they would feel they had better options.

Tofumonkey

Sorry, this is still very much on my mind, despite the chicken fila reference.

Does their local McDonald's have one of those kids play centres? Is that why they went there - somewhere the kids would love where they can play and the grandparents can relax a bit, but know that they've totally made their grandkids' day?

Or is it that they want to spoil their grandkids and don't know how to do it other than with food as treats? When you send food with them, are you sending enough for them to have as snacks too? Or just for the kids? If it's for all of them it might come off as more of an act of gratitude, but if it's just for the kids I could see it coming off as mistrust and judgement of their own food choices, you know?

No, I don't think that McDonald's is the worst thing, but I hate how the toys, play centres and characters have made it into a superomg treat for kids- even though it's complete crap food for you. It plays a significant role in how kids view food and form their view on food.

I just think that maybe there was something behind them taking them excessively to McDonald's and that it might not necessarily be as sinister as you think. 

brij2006

Please don't act as though your kids are going to die if they eat at McDonalds with their grandparents every other month, or if they have cookies.  Explain to them that these items aren't as healthy as others, or teach them how they can make better choices by asking for the sliced apples instead of french fries with their Happy Meal. This is also a good time to teach them about portion control. These items are unhealthy, so we can't eat 5 cookies in one sitting.

My parents raised me with no fast food, and when I turned 16, had my license, and own job, I ate at every fast food place possible. Ended up gaining 50 pounds within 2 years, and was very unhealthy. They never explained to me why we never went there, instead they just never subjected us to any of it. So please explain these things to them so they understand why mom and dad don't take us there, but grandma and grandpa do.