I’m afraid to drive by a McDonald’s Restaurant. No joke.
When my husband and I take the kids out to get groceries, run an errand or go visit family, we have to carefully plan out our routes around the Golden Arches in our city! That is, to AVOID the golden arches in our city. We have discovered that for the love of chicken nuggets and French fries, our three year old will lose his mind. “This way! This way!” He points and screams as we turn in the opposite direction. “Chicken-fries!” He cries. “McDonald’s!!!!!”
My 12-year old son thinks this is hilarious – how we have to take a bunch of different routes just to avoid this whole episode. If my husband and I managed to avoid the extreme episode, we are pretty proud of ourselves. But make no mistake about the memory of a three year old. It is crystal clear.
Ours never forgets we didn’t take him to his favourite place….. he has been known to demand McDonalds when he wakes up out of a dead sleep. I know we are not the only parents who go through this and in some way it is quite humourous. (At least I believe it will be in a few years) But I really must give kudos to the marketing folks of McDonalds. They have the market tapped.
We’ve tried other restaurants but he’s too young to be enticed by the famous root beer of one or the burgers of a braided little girl at another. Subway and Tim Horton’s offer the healthy alternative but he cannot be swayed. How on earth did this all start?
Suddenly I laugh in spite of myself. I have just realized that a rite of passage has just taken place. Rewind a few years back when I was a kid. Going to McDonald’s was a major family outing for us. What a thrill to get our own little box of food, complete with a prize and even a little magazine of jokes and letters! We sang their jingles “keep your eyes on your fries, they’re too hard to resist!” and we competed on who could say “two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, on a sesame seed bun” the fastest. Who am I kidding? We were just as addicted to McDonald’s as my kids are now…..and the toys have gotten better too!
Has salad ever had a catchy jingle done about them and seen by millions? Is there a salad-burglar that kids can grow attached to? Perhaps if restaurants made a hero character for the healthy alternatives, and give them equal face time on TV and in the print advertising, then maybe, just maybe they would appeal more to kids!
Life is very busy for parents these days. Even as a stay-at-home Mom, life doesn’t always allow for that sit down family meal! Enter fast food. Exit all reason and in the case of my three year old – all sanity. I still believe that nothing beats a home-cooked meal, especially when you are watching the budget as closely as we are. But when reality dictates otherwise, it’s nice to know that there is an alternative.
I challenge the fast food restaurants to rise to the challenge and do the sell job on healthy choices that they do for their French fries and burgers! In the meantime, I’m off to put my youngest son to bed……fortunately for me, there are no golden arches along the way.
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