Sometimes I Skip the Happy Meal

We don’t eat out much in our house. With boys 2 and 5, it isn’t the kind of dining experience my husband and I dreamed about before we had kids. Our most recent night out to a sit-down restaurant involved a ketchup bottle, smashed and broken all over the floor. The restaurant staff did a wonderful job trying to keep our kids entertained with activities to do and snacks that came out before our meal. But expecting our kids to sit still and be quiet for any length of time is next to impossible. We’ve decided that, at our current life stage, we would rather go somewhere our kids enjoy.

One of those places is McDonald’s. On a blustery winter day when we’re looking to get out of the house and let our kids run off some energy, this tops the list. With a place to play and new toys to be discovered from a kid-friendly, vibrantly-designed cardboard box—it’s almost like Christmas morning for them.

But here’s how our trips usually went: when we walked in, the boys raced to the display showing the current Happy Meal toys. They’d beg for the one they thought was best. We’d order our meals and they boys would get their toys. But sometimes, the toys they got weren’t the ones they wanted. Each of our boys have had meltdowns at this point. To stop the tirade, I’d race back up to the counter and beg for the toy they really wanted but sometimes they didn’t have that toy, and when I’d return, so would the meltdowns. We had fights over Happy Meals seemingly every time we went.

My husband was the one to suggest skipping the Happy Meal. He mentioned it on our way in to McDonald’s one day. As in, we were already opening the door and walking inside. Here’s how much that impacted me—I can still remember how I felt. My heart started pounding and my hands got sweaty. Sometimes, as a mom, all I want is a breather. And McDonald’s had become that for me. If I could get the boys to eat their food and be happy about their toy, I could sit and rest while they played. The Happy Meal was as much for me as it was for them.

The first time we skipped the Happy Meal went pretty much how I expected. Our kids freaked out, fell over, screamed and banged their hands and feet on the floor. But then after a few minutes, they calmed down and ate their non-Happy Meal meal.

We finally started to realize why we didn’t like to get Happy Meals. What came out of the boys was jealousy that brother got the better toy, or fury because they didn’t receive the toy they needed. And in the end it never mattered what the toy was. They all found their way home to a final resting place at the bottom of an overflowing toy bin. 

Our family is on a journey towards simplicity, sacrifice, and thinking of others first. I’m hopeful that skipping the Happy Meal is a chance to teach my kids a lesson. I want them to learn it’s ok to not always get what you want. If they had it their way, we’d eat at McDonald’s every day. We’d also sleep 3 hours a day, have candy for breakfast, and never bathe.

Sometimes as a parent, I find I have to make choices that are about more than making it through the present moment. But that’s not always easy. Skipping the Happy Meal still causes meltdowns. In the midst of the drama, I try to remind myself that I want to teach my kids that less is more—that not getting what you want when you want it is sometimes a good thing. And sometimes we do get Happy Meals. But it’s less frequent. Now, we focus on eating and playing and making memories instead of collecting stuff. And that, to me, makes every McDonald’s visit well worth it.