McDonald's happy meal

[LilyXoxox]

Thoughts on this?

I don’t see the problem.

Those heavy talks shouldn’t always be a big deal. We shouldn’t only talk to our kids about feelings or emotions when they are upset.

The message should be dripped in as often as possible in my opinion, it should be normal to see those messages. When it is normalised, kids won’t be triggered every time someone says it’s ok not to be happy all the time or that it’s ok to feel sad.

Accepting their feelings, good and bad, should be as natural as breathing rather than feeling like there’s something wrong with them if they’re not happy.

But that's my point. They should be happy all the time and it's absolutely not okay that they aren't.

Anyway, I doubt McDonald's give a shit one way or the other. This is just the usual tickbox exercise that large companies feel obliged to do.

It’s impossible though. Elderly relatives die, pets die, friends let you down, you fall over and graze your knee, siblings are nasty to you, etc etc ad infinitum.

You want their lives to be as happy as possible but unhappiness is as much a part of life, regardless of what we might wish.

But yes, I also hate corporate stuff like this.

Why should they? My 8 year old niece face timed me recently because she was feeling sad. She was sad because her Great Nannie died and she missed her. We had a lovely chat about all the things we missed about Great Nannie, and she said she was a lot happier by the end.

Of course an 8 year old having a phone is another issue all together. But children aren't happy all the time, neither do they have to be.

Death of a family member, death of a pet, poorly relative, anxious about exams. These are just a few reasons why a child might not feel happy at a particular time.

The message is simple, it is fine not to feel happy all the time . I see no problem with it and don't understand why it would make anyone angry.

Well done McDonalds. Great way to start a conversation with kids about mental health.

Of course no one is happy all of the time & that's okay. It's good for your kids to tell you when they aren't happy.

I think it is absolutely bloody fantastic. Do you know how many young people commit suicide every day because they have been taught that real men don’t cry or that showing your feelings makes you weak or vulnerable? Young people need to know they can have all sorts of emotions and being sad sometimes is ok and that it is good to discuss your feelings. The younger these conversations take place and children learn to share and talk about their feelings without being invalidated or told not to be silly stop crying the better.

I think it’s fine ! Simple . As a teacher during well - being lessons one of the key messages is that we are not happy all the time .
Life can be sad , painful , upsetting.
How kids deal with those ups and downs is what matters and is how they develop resilience .
Am very surprised at a poster above saying kids SHOULD be happy all the time !!
Of course the shouldn’t ! This is the kind of damaging narrative promoted by social media .

Your six year old if completed early years in most European countries will already know people are not happy all the time. Usually they colour pictures of facial expressions and talk about when they were happy,sad mad, puzzled or scared

It is a really important part of young children's wellbeing. Being able to identify their feelings helps communication and I reckon helps with behaviour.

I have worked at mcdonald's and I do agree I think for the age groups that will see this will not understand so probably pointless but its not going to be a long term message on the boxes so I wouldn't be bothered by this

Were supposed to be giving our kids tools for life including opening up and talking about emotions, feelings, fears etc and coping with tragic and upsetting events that every child goes through in their life, this is a tool for conversation and saying nobody is always happy but we can get back to a good place and talking/sharing helps. You start from Early childhood like when your two year old is screaming by acknowledging their emotions and giving strategies.

How does that work? Do you want to come round and tell my 8 year old to cheer up and she shouldn’t be sad that her Grandma has died because doesn’t she know that she is a child a therefore she should be happy all the time.

Children shouldn't be expected to be happy all the time as much as an adult shouldn't. It's unrealistic and actually far more likely to put a weight of expectation on them as a slogan on a burger meal.

I think I agree with that sentiment

It's ok to be angry, it's ok to be sad, it's ok to be grumpy.

You don't have to a beaming smile on your face 24/6. That would be exhausting

I'm not saying kids should be doing cartwheels when their relatives or pets die.

But they shouldn't be ground down by all the problems in the world. They'll be miserable enough when they grow up, there's no need to bring kids down to the same level as adults any sooner than they should be.

Like I said, I doubt McD or any other company or HR dept really care one way or another. Box has been ticked so job done.

Well we weren't happy eheh our happy meals we ordered to work, didn't turn up!

Asking the important question here - what do we ask for if we go through the drive thru this week?
A miserable meal?
An existential crisis meal?
An emotionally unsure meal?

It's starting to get like the Barbies in the Barbie Movie.

My kid is that busy with what's inside his box I can guarantee he wouldn't be arsed about what was written on the outside of it.

As long as i still got my toy i dont care about a box.