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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think there’s nothing wrong with a McDonald’s once in a while?

131 replies

Eyebagsandcoffee · 04/09/2018 19:10

I went on a day out today with a friend and kids and stopped at a services along the way to get some lunch. DD(4) saw the McDonald’s sign and excitedly shouted ‘ooh McDonald’s can we go there for lunch please?’

My friend was mortified and snapped at me ‘she’s 4 how does she know the McDonald’s sign? my DS (he’s 4) has never been and doesn’t even know they exist, we’re not going anywhere near it, I can’t believe you’ve fed her that crap’

She’s usually quite level headed but was outraged, are parents really like this? DD doesn’t have one every week but occasionally will, it’s usually at a services or similar. A few nuggets once in a while won’t kill them! The friend will happily give her kid chips whilst out at a farm cafe or similar.

AIBU to think she was being precious and her kids will probably binge on cheeseburgers at the earliest opportunity?

OP posts:
Move2WY · 04/09/2018 19:12

I don’t believe your friend said that. I think you saw her judgey glare and interpreted it.

No there’s nothing wrong with a McDonalds but there’s nothing wrong with avoiding it either. It is fast food crap afterall.

Gardai · 04/09/2018 19:13

I love a McDonald’s now and again
So does DD
I can’t believe people are so up themselves.

kaytee87 · 04/09/2018 19:15

She actually said all that? And she's not usually like that? I'd wonder if there's something wrong with her.

Prestonsflowers · 04/09/2018 19:15

No, there is nothing wrong with a McDonalds now and again.
You’ll be flamed for giving your children fast food though.
Put your hard hat on Op

Original poster
Eyebagsandcoffee · 04/09/2018 19:15

She genuinely said it! I did miss out the part in between, where I said ‘maybe, if ‘friend’ is happy too’
I get that some people may want to avoid it but if it’s there what’s the big deal?

OP posts:
BitchQueen90 · 04/09/2018 19:16

Nope, DS is 5 and we have junk food like McDonald's/Dominos/KFC once a month. Grin

Amanduh · 04/09/2018 19:16

It’s not crap to give a child some fish fingers or nuggets and chips or carrots once in a while...and if she gives her child food out at farms etc she is ridiculous!!! My son is 21 months and shouts ‘chips!’ 😂😂😂😂 Whenever we go past a mcdonalds - he’s only had it once but clearly remembers!

jellyandsoup · 04/09/2018 19:17

Nothing wrong at all, mine are well acquainted with the golden arches with no ill efects.

Unihorn · 04/09/2018 19:17

No there's nothing wrong with it at all. And if people are that against it they can order a grilled chicken wrap or fish fingers and a fruit bag and feel better about themselves.

Thesearmsofmine · 04/09/2018 19:18

Meh, if we drive past a McDonalds my two year old shouts HAPPY MEAL!!!

It’s fine every now and again, sometimes my kids will have a Happy Meal, other times we will go to a proper restaurant and they’ll eat salmon and veg. Swings and roundabouts.

PinkCherryBlossomTree · 04/09/2018 19:18

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

inmyfeelings · 04/09/2018 19:20

It's a myth that you get flamed on mumsnet for giving your child McDonald's meal .
I'm all for it .

InDubiousBattle · 04/09/2018 19:20

My kids love a Mac Donalds. It's fish fingers, chips and water, hardly terrible and if you're that bothered you can always get the veg bag and some fruit. My two even got a book yesterday instead of the usual toy.

I don't believe your friend actually said that either! If my friend snapped at me like that I would assume she wasn't actually much of a friend.

DannyWallace · 04/09/2018 19:21

My friend is like this. I find it really weird!
I don't eat McDonald's a lot. Maybe a few times a year at most. But one day we met up and were talking about a night out Id been on. I said that the next day I was suffering so needed a McMuffin. She said "oh....I didn't realise you ate McDonald's!"

I didn't think anything of it. But a few months later she drove past me (she was driving out of McDonald's car park 😂). She was mortified and sent me a huge text saying that her DS needed to pee and that's the only reason she was there! Like I care if she has it sometimes haha. Even weirder I bumped into her mum a few days later and she had told her mum the story and her mum reiterated how mortified she was and how she promises her daughter didn't eat McDonald's!

I don't understand it! And please realise that this is a woman who I've known since school and god knows how many times weve eaten dirty kebabs/chips/pizzas so she's not exactly a clean eater 😂😂😂

ParkheadParadise · 04/09/2018 19:21

No, nothing wrong with a McDonalds.

Haworthia · 04/09/2018 19:22

Some people think not liking or eating in McDonalds makes them superior people.

I say fuck that, a Big Mac is fucking delicious.

RiddleyW · 04/09/2018 19:25

The food is definitely no worse than lots of other places. I regularly give DS a toasted cheese sandwich and a cake in a cafe which is probably worse. I don’t do Macdonalds with him though (he’s nearly 4) because I don’t like the idea of a toy with the food. I don’t even really know why I feel like it - it just seems wrong.

theOtherPamAyres · 04/09/2018 19:28

I'll have a MacD every now and then - and it reminds me why I don't have one more often. They are so, so SWEET.

The bread bun is sweet enough to be a cake. The sauces are like jam. Every single ingredient seems to be suffused in sugar. It's a sandwich for sugar addicts if you don't use plenty of salt and vinegar.

Haworthia · 04/09/2018 19:28

Having watched 'supersize me' and knowing that if you only ever ate McDonalds it would actually kill you, I don't believe it is in any way good for anyone to eat

But you can apply that logic to any treat/junk food. If you ate nothing but pizza or cake or ice cream or fish & chips I’m sure that would be pretty bad for you too.

RiddleyW · 04/09/2018 19:33

I reckon you could actually survive on Macdonalds only. Certainly it would take a lot longer to kill you than eating only celery for example, or apples.

cricketmum84 · 04/09/2018 19:34

No nothing wrong with the odd McDonald's!! Fast food is not evil as long as it's consumed in moderation with a healthy balanced diet the rest of the time. Totally on your side with this one OP.

PinkCherryBlossomTree · 04/09/2018 19:34

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

glintandglide · 04/09/2018 19:36

I’d tell her she’s a bloody rude cow tbh. McDonald’s is fine, probbaly better than most of the stuff they eat outside the home.

chasingsushi · 04/09/2018 19:36

DS also 4 has also never had McDonalds. We do sometimes stop there for coffee, but never eat there. And I also let him have chips and burgers at other restaurants.

My problem with McDonalds is not high fat or deep fried foods. It's all the additives they add to food to make it moreish/addictive. If you look at their fries they're not just potatoes cooked in oil like you'd get in your standard pub.

I don't for one minute think there's a problem with having a McDonalds every now and then or that everyone who has one becomes a Big Mac addict, but I think processed foods are best avoided and you can't get more processed than a McDonalds.

glintandglide · 04/09/2018 19:37

And tbf, your friend is probably a bit of a simpleton who has brought into the hippy dippy lentil weaver philosophy that McDonald’s is evil, or is stuck on McDonald’s circa 1995 when it was pretty ropey. Tell her to get with the programme either way