McDonalds Birthday parties – Ergh... never again. WDYT, WWYD?
OK, just to set the scene, eating good, real, fresh, food is very important to DH and me. We try hard to minimise the amount of salt, sugar and fat in our diet and we try not to eat processed food very often. We are not food control freaks, we do allow ourselves and our kids to eat crap and allow other people (grandparents) to feed them crap too.... in moderation.
We also feel we are aware consumers, we try hard to look beyond marketing hype. We HATE excessive packaging and we especially HATE WITH A PASSION small, useless, plastic crappy things and especially underhand (unethical) marketing to children.
DS is 4 and has had McDonalds once (just recently) in his life when we were desperate and it was the only option. He thought it was old McDonald’s farm and asked if we would see a pig (how ironic!). When we drive past a McDonalds he thinks it’s a petrol station.
Anyway, the three of us (DS, DD and me) turned up to our first McDonalds birthday party today. I was expecting it to be bad but it was seriously hideous.
My issues:
- Why would you PAY MONEY to be marketed to. Why would you PAY for the privilege of getting your kids hooked on that utterly crap food. (Yes, we didn’t actually pay anything, but I’m sure the parents of the birthday child would have forked out hundreds).
- It was in a room that was more like a cell with adult furniture so the kids couldn’t even eat the crap comfortably.
- There was an open door that was 5m from the main driveway in and out of the place. Major safety issue! (I couldn’t believe parents actually left their children there. NO WAY was I leaving mine there without me.)
- The party "host" was just the teen-something that got the roster that day, obviously no experience with children.
- The kids were made to sit down on the fitly, dirty cold floor to play games.
- One game involved going to the playground and the host throwing straws everywhere (great, industrial pollution incident!) that the children then collected. She also hid two other crappy plastic toys that they were supposed to find. And this is the bit that has left me chilled to the bone. She made all the children face the wall, close their eyes and put their hands over their faces. Then she said to them in a seriously menacing tone that they were not to peak while she was hiding the toys, that she was watching them and that if she caught anyone peaking they would be OUT! She said this several times and my DS was terrified. She then got side tracked and all the children just got bored and started playing except my poor darling boy who was absolutely glued to that wall with his eyes shut so tight, it brought tears to mine. Nothing I could say to him would make him move so I had to go and get “her” to release him (and told her how terrified he was and to bloody well tone it down a bit!).
- The amount of rubbish we created was appalling. I hate that “throw away” mentality.
- The amount of rubbish we came home with was even more appalling. What a great way to unload all their unsold plastic bits of crap.
Anyway, I have decided that if we get invited to another McDonalds party I will politely decline. I won’t lie and say we’ve got something else on, I’ll say "I’m sorry our family just doesn’t do McDonalds parties".
What do you think? Would you be offended if someone said this to you? Am I going to harm my children by not letting them go to these things?
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so she says it everytime, but still wants to play in the playground, but she wants to play in every playground she sees!
Either I offend them or they offend me. 
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