To take DD 5 to McDonald's every other weekend?

Exactly

Op drop this joy-sucking judgemental frenemy seriously 😟

To be fair I do a lot of cooking from scratch and eat in a lot of nice restaurants (plus the occasional Maccies), about 70% of my media intake is probably cooking programs or YouTube chef tutorials, it’s an open secret that posher places have more salt in their food. Its how they trick you into paying more for their much “tastier” food…

Where would you take a 5yo for casual gluten free food that is less processed than the offer from MCDonalds?

@lyricalwindmills My thoughts exactly 😂😂😂

People are so bloody weird about food 😂 We live in a small seaside town and I was running errands with DS (4yo) a few weeks ago having a lovely day and he asked completely out of the blue if we could go to the ice cream parlour for a big ice cream sundae. It’s something we never do - it’s usually heaving with tourists tbh 🫠😂 so off we toddled and I let him pick us a stupidly big sundae for us to share. MIL phoned while we were there as she had popped by the house and we weren’t in. You should have heard the outrage 😳 I was feeding him ice cream……on a TUESDAY?! 😳😱 She’s still harping on about the fact that she can’t believe I took him for a “weekend treat” during the week and that I’m setting him up for a lifetime of bad habits 😂 people are wild!

@quincyquince I’m sure your DD loves the little fun day you guys have 😊

We go out for lunch most Saturdays after swimming and take it in turns to choose where we go for lunch. Even when it's not McDonalds, she orders chicken nuggets or fish fingers and chips from wherever else we go. 😂

I worked there for a while at 16-17 on Saturdays and got a free meal whilst I was working. I was a size 6 and perfectly healthy.

Everything is fine in moderation.

My only concern would be that it’s not much of a dinner for a growing child. A small portion of Maccies fries is fuck all. If it’s a snack and not a main meal, then it’s fine.

What is it that's addictive then? The potatoes or the oil?

You'll ruin people's ability to be snobby if you carry on posting things like that

Food is about more than nutrition. My memories of some of the very un-nutritious stuff I ate as a child are very dear to me!

McDonalds ingredients in the UK are fine, if not super healthy. It sounds nice to me.

Agreed. Fast food is addictive and there are plenty other places that cater for GF these days.

this is written quite often on fast food threads that people who don’t eat it ‘suck the joy out of everything.’ But that doesn’t account for the many - very joyous 😜- people who don’t see it as a ‘treat’ at all, because it tastes like crap really, and leaves you feeling shit.

i do eat McDonald’s, but I don’t consider it a treat.
you are welcome to of course.

Out of interest I just compared Waitrose higher welfare beef burgers to a McDonald’s quarter pounder burger, they are quite similar in nutritional values - but the McDonald’s burger has far less salt… so much snobbery when it comes to Maccies on here!

Omg some people are insane. As if a small treat once a fortnight is going to do any harm ffs. I look back fondly to my trips to McDs as a child
It hasn't done me any harm and I'm not a junk food addict. I take my dcs about once a month, it's such a treat for them. They love the happy meal and mc flurry for dessert. Keep taking her!

People are so predictably ridiculous. Come on! I have a friend who used to swear that his son had "never tasted McDonalds in his life". Yeah right, the child was 18 at the time, sure he hasn't!

When I think of some of the stuff we ate as kids! My mother would send me to school with a container of sweetened condensed milk. Good energy for the brain she would say!

This is my (personal) experience too. My parents were huge on healthy eating - no junk in the house, never allowed fast food or a glass of coke with a meal. As soon as I had my own money, it all went on junk. It took me a long time to stop associating the taste of junk with the freedom/choices that come with adulthood.

She’s gluten free - bought cake is asking for trouble. McDonald’s chips are just potato, oil and salt. Much safer.

Treats after swimming are essential no matter the child's age. I remember my treats from nearly 50 years ago!

My DDs loved a packet of crisps - zero nutrition there but swimming drains you (no pun intended ...).

Having seen my DC to adulthood, I'd say it's those children who had their junkfood intake restricted completely who went mad for it as soon as they were let loose with their own diets/money. Those who learned to eat it in moderation seem much more sensible.

When your child has dietary restrictions , it's a relief to find something they enjoy from a ace selling food. So enjoy your fortnightly treat.

It's crap for a child who has to avoid certain foods. If she anything like mine they could rarely have treats due to lack suitable availability of foods. It makes them feel they are different. If she can go to mcdonalds and enjoy something then even weekly would be fine

But what's wrong with chips and ice-cream twice a month? I genuinely don't understand why you think that's going to cause any problems.

Honestly, the MN attitude towards McDonald's is just batshit.

I assume Macdonald's has changed and is healthier now. When I was growing up it was processed food full of trans fats. I've seen adverts on TV which talk about it having improved, so I'm sure it's fine now and again.

Let’s assume 30 days in a month
3 meals a day
Of which 2 are this Maccie’s treat
That’s 2/90 = just over 2% of meals

Yep definitely setting her up for a lifetime of obesity, disordered eating and heart disease by the time she’s 40

It's normalising junk food. The DD won't always be of an age where her mum can monitor what she is eating, and good habits should be formed before it's too late.