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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to ask my childminder not to take my children to MacDonalds

134 replies

parakeet · 16/02/2012 20:38

They are 4 and 8, and have not yet enjoyed the delights of the golden arches. My reasons are mainly to do with the poor quality and unhealthiness of the food there (salt, fat). I know the occasional visit won't do any harm but I don't want them to get a taste for it, and perhaps pester me for return visits, and it will be hard for me to explain why not. I don't judge those who do go there, I'm just explaining my reasoning for context.

So, my child told me the childminder had said she was planning a trip. Would it be unreasonable of me to say I'd rather this didn't happen?

By the way, I've decided that if my children get taken there by their friends' parents as part of a day out, then fine. I just think if I'm actually paying for their care, I should be able to express some preferences over what happens.

OP posts:
EightiesChick · 17/02/2012 00:07

BTW are there other mindees in the equation here?

ChocolateIsAFoodGroup · 17/02/2012 00:09

Hello there aldi!

It's OK, I won't tell anyone about your dastardly addiction Grin

And I know I'm a total unhumorous freak about it!

PatFenis · 17/02/2012 00:10

A McDonalds Free Zone - cor blimey! I bet each and every one of you have scoffed down a maccys and enjoyed each and every moment of it! And then lied that you had had the salad Grin

My kids will get a McD's when I can't be arsed cooking/have a headache/period pain/general can't be arsedness - I work hard and sometimes can't face a kitchen let alone the dirty dishes they bring - maybe once a fortnight

I am NOT Delia fucking Smith nor am I Nigella fucking Lawson but I cook from scatch most days and I am not the least bit arsed if my kids have a shite meal once in a while

Its the least of my worries tbh.

Smurfy1 · 17/02/2012 00:34

A McDonalds Free Zone - cor blimey! I bet each and every one of you have scoffed down a maccys and enjoyed each and every moment of it! And then lied that you had had the salad

My kids will get a McD's when I can't be arsed cooking/have a headache/period pain/general can't be arsedness - I work hard and sometimes can't face a kitchen let alone the dirty dishes they bring - maybe once a fortnight

I am NOT Delia fucking Smith nor am I Nigella fucking Lawson but I cook from scatch most days and I am not the least bit arsed if my kids have a shite meal once in a while

Its the least of my worries tbh.

LOVE THIS

aldiwhore · 17/02/2012 00:40

Chocolate now then, its not an addiction... well maybe, but a very rare one... but when I need a Big Tasty, nowt else will do, even though my own are far superior and much more health

Thing is, I don't think anyone needs a reason to boycott somewhere. As a parent, a parent who pays someone who look after their children, we all have a right to say "I really do not want you doing that" and either expect the CM to say "Fine and dandy, your child, your choice" or "sorry I cannot accomodate your wishes".

Smurfy have you read the thread? i'm guilty of not reading every post, but in the main the general consensus seems to think the OP is precious, or that she's right to not like it for whatever reason... I feed my kids shite on ocassion too, and I'm bloody better than Delia or Nigella Wink I wouldn't PAY someone to take my kids to McD's though, and I do thinkshowcasing it as an outing is deeply unimaginative and a bit lame.

TheParan0idAndr0id · 17/02/2012 01:06

They do have a non-salted chips option. You just say "no salt please" and bingo, there you are!

Smurfy1 · 17/02/2012 01:21

Yes I have read the whole thread and seen the direction it took (rather predictably I may add) hence the reason I didn't bother inputting my point of view BUT i did find the post from Fatpenis rather amusing so thats why i LOVED IT

my2centsis · 17/02/2012 08:28
Biscuit
torchpaper · 17/02/2012 09:09

YANBU OP

hackmum · 17/02/2012 10:38

I really dislike the idea of MacDonald's as a "treat". It's not just the food (in my experience it's quite hard to get a child to eat healthy food if it doesn't want to), it's the ethos, the way they suck children in so they can get addicted to high-fat, high-salt processed crap. (Not to mention the low pay for workers, the litter outside the shops etc).

Despite the general view that for a lot of adults MacDonald's is a guilty treat, I don't. I think the food is utterly disgusting and wouldn't go anywhere near it.

On the other hand, I don't have a problem at all with Greggs:-)

HexagonalQueenOfTheSummer · 17/02/2012 10:58

I think you sound OTT and anal

HexagonalQueenOfTheSummer · 17/02/2012 11:00

Especially as you've said you'd let a friend's parents take them but not the childminder. Sounds to me as though you consider the childminder to be "your staff" and don't care about upsetting her but wouldn't dare offend your DCs friends' parents

allthatglittersisnotgold · 17/02/2012 14:06

YANBU, they're your children and if you don't want them to get a taste for junk, definately veto it. How is fatty, salty food a "treat" anyway?

KateSpade · 17/02/2012 14:14

Oh my god. Reading the word 'McDonalds' on this thread has really made me want one now...

Let's just hope your children dont go to uni, they will literally live off 10p noodles takeaways and beer.

worldgonecrazy · 17/02/2012 14:20

YANBU. McDonalds is shit.

allthatglittersisnotgold · 17/02/2012 14:23

Kate Spade-But at least they will have had a goood healthy innings before they get there!

mojitomania · 17/02/2012 14:25

Oh lighten up OP! A trip to MacDonalds once in a while isn't a big deal.

macbookdeath · 17/02/2012 14:36

McDonalds is awesome. They are no where near as bad as a load of people make out. I find it very ironic the people who bitch about Maccas and then stroll into Subway for unhealthier meal or tuck into their more unethical supermarket ready meal.

Things are relative and too many people unfairly get way too snobbish about McDonalds...

Tanith · 17/02/2012 14:36

Reminds me of the time I helped out on a school trip and they popped into Macdonalds on the way back. They'd been warned to bring money for this.

My DS had never been in one and sat there pointedly reading the nutrition leaflet Blush

Another child had a £5 and was a bit panicky about buying his meal in case he didn't have enough. We tried to help him out.
"Look: the meal you want is 99p. You have £5. You have enough to buy 5 meals if you wanted them."
"But I don't want 5 meals, I only want one!"

I'm finding the "educational value" camp quite confusing. Every time the EYFS or similar is discussed, scores of angry parents claim they don't want every second of their child's time in daycare tracked, observed and justified as educationally beneficial. Are these the same parents questioning the educational value of a trip to Macdonalds, I wonder?

lostboysfallin · 17/02/2012 14:42

I want McDonalds now.

My dh has asked that my mum not take the kids
I've ignored his request
He's been 5 times in his entire life, its not a big deal

DumSpiroSpero · 17/02/2012 14:45

Is it just your DC's that she looks after?

The thing is, if she looks after other children as well (and her own?) and everyone else is happy for it to be an occasional treat, it's not really fair for you to a put a spanner in the works for everyone else, although you are of course, perfectly entitled to ask to know when it's happening so you can make alternative arrangements for your own children.

FWIW, my DH is a chef and hates McDonalds with a passion. I took our DD there last year for the first time aged 6 (it was the lesser of several evils where we were shopping at the time and DH was taking hours in the mobile phone shop). She was completely unimpressed and has never expressed any desire to go there since, so you may find a one off visit works in your favour!

Goldenbear · 17/02/2012 18:48

hackmum, I don't agree with the OP but I equally don't see Macdonalds as a treat! To suggest that in having this one off meal the OP's children would henceforth have a high fat, high salt diet is simply not true.

What is the real reason for not wanting then to go as they have been exposed to high fat food from the chippy, is it because 'the yellow arches' are a bit 'chavvy' for the OP's taste? I think a lot of people are precious about these things because it makes them a bit superior, different from the 'chavs' as it were but the double standards exist in the form of the visit to the independent chippy!

Either way I don't think the obsession with avoiding these places as a one off is healthy. You are effectively encouraging them to think about getting fat at a very young age, it shouldn't even be on their radar at 4 and 8!

Original poster
parakeet · 17/02/2012 18:53

Thanks for the masses of replies. I guess MaccyD's is a real hot button issue. It seems roughly split to me between people who agree with me and people who don't.

To recap, the two days that she has my children, she (usually) doesn't have any other children except her own, so I don't see it as spoiling things for other children too much. She could just go on a different day.

And to respond to a point that several people have made it IS different to a friend's parents taking them. If a friend kindly offers to have your child for the afternoon and mentions they will visit MacD's on the way home, you can hardly start laying down the law about their restaurant choices. Or at least you can try, but your child won't be asked out a second time. With a childminder, however, I pay for their care, so I do have a right to some input.

To people who say Oh yes, you can have quite healthy choices at MacD's, carrot sticks and the like. Come ON! That is not realistically going to happen, is it?

To people who say Ooh, you're so precious, stop getting your knickers in a twist: Er...I'm not. I'm in a little bit of a dilemma, and I'm asking the MN jury if my plan of action is reasonable. That would seem to be purpose of AIBU, no?

But the prize for the "best" response of all (and I mean best as in the best laugh I've had all day) is to the person who said I should just give up my job and look after them myself....Classic...

OP posts:
dontaskwhereIlive · 17/02/2012 18:57

YANBU as it's a fairly simple preference she can easily adhere too.

However I think if you don't want her going to MD you need to have a serious look at where you are happy for them to go, as surely chicken nuggets and chips it chicken nuggets and chips whererever you go? If they are eating out then many cafes and stores will serve absolute shite for children. And adults.

Also don't fall in to the trap of thinking a home made packed lunch is the answer to everything. Depends on the bread, the spread, the ham, the yogurt.....the amount of crap it is possible to squeeze in to a sice of bread is amazing.

I personally can't see what the nutritional disaster is with the odd small MD. Mine sometimes have a few fries and a little bottle of milk. How bad can that be Confused

CockyPants · 17/02/2012 18:59

Shoot me down in flames if you wish..

My dd is 5.6. She has happy meal with cheeseburger or fish fingers, milk and fruit bag. No chips. This is a balanced meal. Child is fussy eater and meat phobic. The burgers are good way of getting iron and meat based protein in to her. If you don't want fat kids don't give them chips chick nuggets fruit shoots fizzy drink mcflurries.
S' not rocket science peeps....