My ode to McDonalds

For a long time, my husband and I went out to brunch after church on Sunday. It was a nice tradition, and we had friends we often went with.

Now, things are a bit crazier. Matt and I don't go to church together because he is working every Sunday so he can have a weekday off and save on childcare. So now, it's just me, Anne Marie and Thomas. Call me a pushover parent, but I can't think of any better way to make my children behave in church except bribery. If the kids are good, they get a "church treat."

I'm not about to take a 3-year old and a 1-year old to Sunday brunch by myself, so for awhile I was letting them pick their treat. One day, Anne Marie said she wanted, "McDonalds inside, not drive-through."

Ladies and gentlemen, I'm not too proud to admit we have a new tradition, and it's one that involves going to a place often maligned for killing our kids with their french fries.

For the past few Sundays, we've been heading to the Golden Arches for a hamburger and some playtime after church. Sometimes I let Anne Marie get the Happy Meal, sometimes just the burger, depending on if I think the toy is something she would really like. We skipped out on the Last Airbender figurines, but went for the Madame Alexander dolls, for example. At least in that particular McDonald's, I'm completely impressed by how they cater to families.

Anne Marie normally doesn't care about playlands. She is scared to do just about anything in them. But this playland has a toddler-specific area, with small things to climb on, low-to-the-ground entrances and a little house where she can play pretend. On the regular playland, the entrance is wide enough and the floor sturdy enough that I can go in and grab Thomas when he does something particularly daring for an 18-month old. The play area has a big family bathroom, and the music playing overhead is different than in the main part of the restaurant— it's kid-friendly music without being annoying.

I'm not a McDonald's spokesman- I haven't even told them how much I appreciate that play area. And I know why they offer family-friendly stuff. Kids, even (or perhaps especially) 3-year olds, have tremendous buying power. That play land makes them money.

While they are making money, however, they are giving my kids a fun environment for an hour on a Sunday afternoon, something that will be especially nice when the snow flies and we won't be able to picnic anymore.

I think that fast-food restaurants, McDonald's included, share a bit too much of the responsibility for the obesity epidemic in children. Yes, we've been eating at McDonald's for a Sunday treat, but is it really any worse than the pancakes, etc. we were consuming at sit-down restaurants? We don't eat at McDonald's every day, and I try to make healthy meals most of the time. My kids eat lots of fresh fruits and vegetables. Thomas and Anne Marie both love broccoli and green peppers, along with just about every fruit imaginable. They eat candy on occasion, and they are not strangers to fast food, but we try for a healthy diet.

As a mom, I feel like it's my responsibility to make sure they aren't eating fast food (or boxed mac and cheese or chicken nuggets) every day, and that those types of foods are flanked by fruits, vegetables and other healthy choices. It's me, not McDonald's, deciding whether the kids get fries or apple slices in their Happy Meals, and whether they drink milk or apple juice. I appreciate that, while not completely healthy, restaurants are responding to families' needs and giving those options. Incidentally, I usually let Anne Marie pick- sometimes she goes fries, and sometimes she goes with apple slices.

So we'll keep going - not every time we drive by and Anne Marie immediately says, "I'm hungryyyy," but on occasion for a special treat.