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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

McDonalds every week?

150 replies

Butterflyflower1234 · 29/11/2019 17:42

I'm wondering AIBU to think giving children a McDonalds every week is too much?

My DP has three lovely DC and every week he takes them to McDonalds. Usually this is every Monday as he seems them for dinner but he missed it this week so he's taken them to McDonalds tonight 'as they missed out on Monday'.

The DC are coming home tonight so it now means that it's just us eating instead of us all eating together.

I have raised before that it won't harm them not to have a McDonalds every week but because they are used to it, they now expect it every week.

I think this is a classic Disney Dad move but of course I can't say too much as I'm not a parent. I just wondered what peoples opinions are?

OP posts:

OlaEliza · 01/12/2019 10:38

It's not just about the nutrition though, it's all the additives and preservatives etc that's in it. I know they say it's only chicken in the nuggets but look at those videos where a meal or item has been left for years and just looks a bit dried out.

Aroundtheworldin80moves · 01/12/2019 11:42

Didn't realise my then toddlers eating habits would be so controversial. She wouldn't eat potatoes, bread or rice, so we used to give her lots of carby vegetables to get carbs into her. So while the rest of us had a fish and chips, she would eat fish, carrots and sweetcorn for example. It was odd and we look back in fondness at it. Now she eats bread and mashed potatoes (still not chips) we don't need to add extra vegetables to her diet.

Stegosaurus1990 · 01/12/2019 11:44

McDonald’s is not just chicken and potatoes...

It’s full of additives. My DSS who has behavioural difficulties is wired after McDonald’s in a similar way as when he eats sweets etc. He certainly doesn’t react with homemade mash and chicken!

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/news/on-the-menu-at-mcdonalds-78-additives-some-may-be-harmful-767533.html%3famp

hsegfiugseskufh · 01/12/2019 12:28

The same additives that are likely in a lot of food?

hsegfiugseskufh · 01/12/2019 12:29

Also that article was 2008. I imagine much has changed in 11 years.

bobstersmum · 01/12/2019 12:31

It's not something I could get worked up about, especially as they're not even your dc!

adaline · 01/12/2019 12:35

Why are preservatives always seen as something bad?

You can use honey that's been sat in air-tight jars for years. They've baked edible bread from flour that was stored in the pyramids of Egypt. Alcohol is a preservative. So is vinegar.

Additives are in most things on the shelf. They're the reason food lasts longer than 2-3 days. It's why you can buy a chicken that has a use-by date of a week rather than one that needs to be eaten the same day. They're not always a bad thing.

lynsey91 · 01/12/2019 12:40

I don't think it's that terrible. I find it more sad that so many children see McDonalds as "treat" food.

I very very occasionally have a McDonalds and then always regret it. Soggy oversalted chips and not very tasty veggie burger or wrap. I go to different ones and some are slightly better but never great. It's the chips that are the worst thing.

My neighbours have McDonalds for their Sunday dinner!

adaline · 01/12/2019 12:45

My neighbours have McDonalds for their Sunday dinner!

Meh, why not? Much less faff than cooking a roast!

lynsey91 · 01/12/2019 13:20

@posteradaline each to their own but it's not that difficult or much of a faff to cook a roast.

Why give children decent home cooked food and let them develop a taste for nice good when they can have fast food crap

adaline · 01/12/2019 13:26

Why give children decent home cooked food and let them develop a taste for nice good when they can have fast food crap

You can do both though. Just because children like McDonald's, doesn't mean they don't also like their greens and fish.

Bee1511 · 01/12/2019 13:29

As a family we have a McDonald’s treat usually every week or two. I like to have an evening off cooking and cleaning after an exhausting week!

PixieDustt · 01/12/2019 13:37

My neighbours have McDonalds for their Sunday dinner!

What a curtain twitcher! 😂

McDonald's a week isn't the end of the world 😴

OlaEliza · 01/12/2019 13:46

Honey and vinegar are natural though, what's in mcds isn't.

I try to eat as 'whole' and fresh as possible now, from scratch wherever possible. I do fall off the wagon and love a takeaway or drive-thru but I don't pretend it's healthy or the same as chicken and veg.

adaline · 01/12/2019 13:50

Why does the odd takeaway or fast food meal need to be described as "falling off the wagon" though? Surely it should just be part of a balanced diet. If you eat healthily 19 meals a week, one meal of McDonalds/KFC/Chippy isn't going to make a difference, is it?

OlaEliza · 01/12/2019 13:54

Because I'm diabetic and supposed to give the carbs a swerve.

lynsey91 · 01/12/2019 13:57

My main point is not so much that they are having McDonalds for Sunday lunch but that children find it a "treat". McDonalds' food really is not very nice and their chips are vile.

It seems so many people don't know what decent food tastes like.

redappleandaquamarinebow1987 · 01/12/2019 14:01

@lynsey91 you might not like them does mean it is universal. I hate most chip shop chips as I find them too soft, soggy and in some cases a hint of sweetness that I just don't like. What food does taste nice and what not is up to the individual

adaline · 01/12/2019 14:03

My main point is not so much that they are having McDonalds for Sunday lunch but that children find it a "treat". McDonalds' food really is not very nice and their chips are vile.

But what's nice and what's not is just personal opinion. You can like McDonald's and like fresh food - it's not a situation of just liking one or the other.

When I was little McDonald's was a treat because we never had it. A bit like now, a roast dinner is a treat because I only ever tend to have it at Christmas. Going out for a three-course meal is also a treat as it doesn't happen more than every couple of months.

Butterymuffin · 01/12/2019 16:23

So does something that happens every week, on the same day, that can't be missed without severe complaining, be a treat?

adaline · 01/12/2019 16:37

So does something that happens every week, on the same day, that can't be missed without severe complaining, be a treat?

Of course it can be - children complain about lots of things, doesn't mean what they're complaining about isn't a nice treat.

NoIDontWatchLoveIsland · 01/12/2019 16:45

Seriously? MacDonalds every single week?
Its utter junk, highly processed. If this is their one night with Dad does he never make the effort to cook them a dinner and eat it together with them? Treat my arse, im betting this is more driven by a parent who can't be bothered to cook.

That notwithstanding....Its very limited diet wise to give the same stuff every week, surely. Does he never change it up & try other restaurants?

Jodie77 · 01/12/2019 16:51

I don't have a problem with McDonald's at all. I take my kids in there sometimes. Sometimes it's for nuggets, burgers, chips and icecream. Sometimes it's for fish fingers and a fruit bag, a salad for me. I don't believe in demonising certain places or certain food types. It's about making balanced choices wherever you go. So we eat fruit, vegetables, lean proteins, beans, pulses, whole grains. And we also eat sweets, chocolate, crisps. I don't let them have fizzy drink all the time, but we do have it sometimes.

Fightingmycorner2019 · 01/12/2019 17:22

Fries are just processed potatoes and salt so not hugely different to crisps which many kids have most days
A burger is meat , bread , mayo and cheese
Whilst it’s not vegetable soup I think there are worse foods
Such as dominoes , and many other convenience foods time stapped parents might shove in the oven

Bluerussian · 01/12/2019 22:13

If the children were having a McDonald's meal every day, that would be bad. Once a week is fine, it won't hurt them at all. It's a long time since I went to McD's but I remember enjoying it well enough and I always cooked and served nutritious wholesome food at home.

Eventually the kids will suggest going somewhere else, there are probably plenty of cafes around and a change is as good as a rest.

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