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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to not understand why people consider McDonalds to be a "treat"

712 replies

TalkinPeace · 13/03/2014 15:22

if I want a family "treat" meal I go somewhere with fresh, favoursome food made especially for us.

Why do people take their kids somewhere that sells the lowest common denominator of food and call it a "treat" ?

OP posts:
LaurieFairyCake · 13/03/2014 15:33

Yeah but TIP the hot dogs in Ikea are 50p at the bistro - it's all subsidised.

NigellasDealer · 13/03/2014 15:33

good grief my very own home county as well - twas never that posh in my day!

dopeysheep · 13/03/2014 15:33

They do make the burgers especially for you. You can leave the gherkins off and everything.
I call it a treat because the kids love it and afterwards they go "that was great!"
That is what a treat is, I don't think it has to be healthy.

Famzilla · 13/03/2014 15:33

I can't have a coffee in Lewes, because I don't have a bugaboo to leave outside the shop & DD is more mini club than mini Rodini.

As you were.

Imsosorryalan · 13/03/2014 15:34

You are being vu! Yes, it is a treat for all the reasons posted above. If the local cafe started giving out balloons and a free toy with every meal then yes, my kids would love that place just as much!

TheScience · 13/03/2014 15:34

It's delicious and not very good for you = treat.

Though the only things DS will eat there are fish fingers and the fruit bag, so not particularly treatsome for him. A big mac is a treat for me though Grin

TantrumsAndBalloons · 13/03/2014 15:34

talkingpeace because not everyone in the world is exactly the same.
I would have thought it was blindingly obvious that people like different things, enjoy different things, have different budgets, different tastes and different families.

you think that McDonalds is the lowest common denominator of food. That doesn't mean that the entire world or even the whole of MN has to agree.

ChocolateSnowflakes · 13/03/2014 15:35

...and Ikea stores are hardly located in every town. I would also find it difficult to travel to Ikea just for lunch and not be tempted to have a browse and end up buying something at the same time. So, not that cheap.

Dinnaeknowshitfromclay · 13/03/2014 15:35

For some people who cook or provide every single damn meal that gets eaten, a Maccies is seen as a treat! It's the not cooking that's the treat part as much as anything. Not suitable as a birthday treat but a treat nonetheless.

LizardBreath · 13/03/2014 15:36

I never had McDonalds as a youngster, consequently I see it as a 'treat' now, planning to treat myself to it in Saturday night actually.

Go to lots of nice restaurants too, it all balances out.

Palehorse · 13/03/2014 15:37

OP i'm with you, full of fat, poor people. And i'm sure many of them are on Benefits as well Shock

mercibucket · 13/03/2014 15:37

what nutter would drive the kids for an hour just to go to ikea cafe?
macdonalds everywhere
it has free toys and bags with lego pictures on
it sells food with the magic sugar salt fat combo
arf at 'the fat duck'

EyelinerQueen · 13/03/2014 15:37

PMSL at OP thinking Ikea is better than Maccies.

Their bestselling dish had horsemeat in it.

I like an occasional McDonalds. Their fries are amazing and I suspect they put crack on the Big Macs.

And I'm not even poor Hmm.

Original poster
TalkinPeace · 13/03/2014 15:37

To all of you who go there because your kids like it.

Do you like it?

I've not eaten in McDonalds for over 30 years - I had a coffee in one about 4 years ago to use the wifi

If I want a cheap meal I go to a sarnie shop
or I go out less often and eat better
is that really so weird?

OP posts:
PansBigChainring · 13/03/2014 15:38

yes, fish and salad with extra salad at Ikea v chicken nuggets and fries. As a treat. Tough one. Grin. And that's for both DD and me.

When Ikea do a take away drive through then we can start comparing.

edwinbear · 13/03/2014 15:38

I love a Big Mac I do. I also love Le Gavroche. Both are a treat as far as I'm concerned.

EyelinerQueen · 13/03/2014 15:38

Oh yeah and part of the appeal for me is the novelty.

I grew up in rural Northern Ireland and only had McDonald's once a year on the annual Christmas shopping trip to Belfast Grin.

NurseyWursey · 13/03/2014 15:38

talkinpeace

yes I do.

RabbitPies · 13/03/2014 15:38

I like McDonalds and I don't have children yet.

Shonajoy · 13/03/2014 15:39

Because 99% of the time our children get fresh flavoursome food at home, so anything different is a treat? Or because mum needs a break from cooking?

MothershipG · 13/03/2014 15:39

But the cheap food in IKEA is to compensate you for the hell that is any trip to IKEA, but especially one involving children!

Also that's not a reasonable comparison when there are about 20 IKEAs in the UK and a McBurger of some variety on every high street.

My DC consider it a treat because normally I make them go somewhere with better food and no toy! Wink

PansBigChainring · 13/03/2014 15:39

no not weird - but you're still coming across as an enormous snob, tbf.

JuniperTisane · 13/03/2014 15:39

I like fresh flavoursome food as much as the next person. I live more than 50 miles from the nearest Ikea though, and I hate salmon anyway.

Sometimes, when I'm really hungry, and the baby is asleep in the car, what I really really want is a quarterpounder, fries and a strawberry milkshake with all the yummy grease and chemicals and badness that comes with it. I can get it in the drive thru, settle down for half an hour and eat my dirty lunch while surfing on my phone and the radio in the background and the baby is still asleep.

Utter bliss.

dopeysheep · 13/03/2014 15:40

Yes I love their pancakes and syrup and their chicken strip things with sweet chilli.dip and their mango.smoothie yuuuuum.

TheDoctorsNewKidneys · 13/03/2014 15:40

Our "local" IKEA is over an hour's drive away.

I like McDonald's. Probably have it one or twice a month on average. I'm an adult, I can eat McDonald's everyday if I want, but I don't. I know it's bad for me and full of fat, salt and sugar, but it's tasty. DP and I went to the cinema on Saturday night (£20 for two tickets) - McDonald's for both of us afterwards (and that's two large meals) was cheaper than popcorn and a drink at the cinema!