If I had a signature parenting move, I think it would be hypocrisy.
Case in point: I am forever nagging at Ben to make dinner for the kids when I am at work late and telling him it is crap to take Coop out for fast food on his sportsball driving nights when I always pack a car dinner. Last week, Ben started his new job with an out-of-town overnight, and what did I do?
McDonalds for lunch after Coop’s ortho appointment
Minnie has never had McDonalds before, and she was DELIGHTED to discover that it is a place that gives you TOYS with your FOOD. Also! The toy was a little pair of Disney/Marvel/Pixar guys, and she got Darth Vader and Raya from Raya and the Last Dragon, a movie she had previously never seen but absolutely watched as soon as we got home while I got ALL OF THE DOMESTIC AND WORK things done.
But wait! My garbage food choices and easy parenting wins did not end there! After dance but before the hockey pick up, I also went to Dunkin for donuts and cocoa to entertain the girls while Coop was on the ice.
A meteorologist! Amazing.
ReplyDeleteAs for the fast food, meh, you gotta do what you gotta do!
I apparently think it’s only ok for me to “gotta do it” LOL
DeleteI say admitting the issue is the first step. Ha. I can't believe Minnie has never eaten McD's before. You deserve an award for that alone. We don't do fast food unless we are on a road trip, and then I usually bring a huge thermos of something. Mini went to Taco Bell while at her friend's house when she was in like 2nd grade and the mom was blown away that she'd never been there.
ReplyDeleteI, too, love the H in place of the S. She makes a really cute meteorologist.
I don’t eat fast food generally, so it’s not my usual impulse with the kids
DeleteYou know I have GULPED the Koolaid on intuitive eating. There is no bad food to me anymore, there is just food. McDonald's doesn't make me feel great so I rarely eat there, but it's food. We need to eat. And food is more than just food - it's pleasure and time with family and...it can be SO stressful to try to have a "balanced" meal for everyone all the time. I have LET go of this ideal.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I still aim for lots of fruits and veggies because, in general, we feel better when we consume more of those than pre-packaged meals.
BUT MCDONALD'S is FINE. It's great, actually, if it meant you could be less stressed in the moment. You're an awesome mom, Sarah.
And love Minnie's career aspirations. It's the one job where you can be wrong 95% of the time and still keep your job, so it sounds awesome to me - hahaha.
I don’t care as much about the nutrition— I just never think it’s ok for HIM to resort to that when I am always the one coming in hot with homemade, you know?
DeleteThe convention that the person who does less of the day-to-day parenting (usually the male person) gets to give most of the special meals and surprise gifts is garbage. I fully stand by my maternal right to give my kids treats whenever I want to.
ReplyDeleteEXACTLY EXACTLY EXACTLY
DeleteYour kids probably think you're winning at parenting, so no worries!
ReplyDeleteA meteorologist! Just checking on the HUN!! ADORBS!
IT WAS SO CUTE
DeleteMETEOROLOGIST IS A CLASSROOM JOB. I am dying. So cute. And for a three year old to say meteorologist?!? Dead.
ReplyDeleteMy kiddo used to do the H for S thing. She would ask for "hnacks" instead of snacks and to this day that's what my husband and I call them.
My parenting word would be inconsistency because I am THE LEAST CONSISTENT HUMAN. It is awful.
But I am pro feeding the kids food, whether that food is donuts or a homecooked meal. So I think you're nailing it.
For sure on the feeding. AND WHY SHOULD DADS GET ALL THE TREATS?
DeleteJust look outside and check on the hun. As you do! I'd also like you to go with me on a trip through my brain in which I decide that a pre-schooler who is a "miniature artist" is in charge of decorating small figures that are in some sort of diorama/dollhouse and it involves either finger paint or something equally messy. Only be be utterly let down by the checking on the hun.
ReplyDeleteOoooooh that would be DARLING
DeleteLisa here. The meteorologist - what a cute classroom ‘job’. I love the mispronunciations. Taco says window funnily. It sounds like ‘win-loo’ or something like that. It is very adorable.
ReplyDeleteMy kids had McD’s for the first time when my parents watched them during our Mexico trip last year. We had never taken them since I assumed they would not eat any of the foods (My kids are highly selective, especially Paul). Then they took them to Fleet Farm and Taco’s mind was BLOWN. He had never been inside a store like Target at that point. But we do not run errands with our kids generally since Phil gets groceries on the weekend while I manage the kids and I usually go to target while I am downtime at work since there is a store a block away. So there are a lot of little experiences they just never had. I have since taken them to target several times and they are so amazed by the toy section.
PANDEMIC BABIES— the most mundane things blow their minds.
DeleteMeh, how does one even parent without the liberal application of hypocrisy? One hundred percent would take my weather reports from Minnie.
ReplyDeleteRight? It’s the most used tool in my parenting tool box
DeleteI swear, toddler talk is the best. We still quote my niece and nephew from when they were toddlers (they're teens now!). Hahaha. Write this all done, lest you forget any of it!
ReplyDeleteToddler talk is so cute!
DeleteMy daughter used to BEG for McDonalds, and then just pick at her food. All she wanted was those damn toys.
ReplyDeleteLOL
Deletesignature parenting move. that is so funny and also interesting. I guess it is ok to do a fast food day. Its taking care of yourself by reducing more care work, tight?
ReplyDeleteMiniature artist is now how I will always pronounce meteorologist. Too cute!
ReplyDeleteWrite these hilarious kid-isms down, because then you, too, can haul them out when your kid is officially middle-aged. Ask me how I know. ;)
ReplyDelete