Bad Parent: Supersize Me
How becoming a parent sold me on fast food.
by Jennifer Blaise Kramer
October 9, 2008
For better or for worse, perhaps for pure convenience, McDonald's will always be a rite of passage. It's often how kids think of a restaurant — fun, friendly, colorful and not pretentious. It's so refreshing to hear kids say "chicken nuggets" or "hot dogs" when asked about their favorite foods. With all the pressure to be all-natural all the time, I get nervous a little three-year-old will respond with "edamame" or "tofu pups." I really worry for the tiny tot who might mechanically utter the word "organic" as if it's a singular food on its own.
With so much emphasis to go organic early, we're so afraid of pesticides in the fruit we puree and hormones in the beef we cook that it can be pretty scary to leave home, unless it's just a quick jaunt to Whole Foods. Unfortunately the same restaurants that support all-natural, sustainable farming don't really cater to kids. Last weekend I called an old local favorite and while they said they welcomed children, they had to put me on hold to ask if they had high chairs.
I can't blame these places for holding up a certain standard. When I'm at a nice restaurant, paying those prices, I expect a certain level of service and presentation. It just doesn't work with a mac-and-cheese-smeared baby, dropping toys and food on the ground while the server plays defense, moving back wine and water glasses and shuffling hot plates to safety zones. It isn't fair to other diners and it's not fair to the restaurateurs whose crisp vision of a dining experience — complete with soft music, white porcelain and sparkling stemware — does not come with baby.
It's a lot like the local bookshops and boutiques we try so hard to support, only to find our stroller doesn't quite fit down the aisle, our item isn't in stock and our crying baby has totally interrupted their vibe. It puts us parents who previously avoided the big box and fast food world in quite a predicament. Do we choose independent or convenient? Healthy or friendly? We don't have the time we once did to browse shops, read menus and hop all over town to find what we want. McDonald's — much like those evil big box retailers — gets this. They always have.
It's nice to have a place where no one flinches when families walk in mid-meltdown.
The chain of all restaurant chains is still super baby-friendly with its heaps of highchairs and happy meals. True to its genre, it is quick, which we frantic parents appreciate, as well as clean and affordable. And despite what snobs (and maybe Morgan Spurlock) say, the food will not kill you. We should give them some credit for stepping into the twenty-first century with healthier options like all-white meat chicken, salads and apple slices. Now they're even making lattes. It almost makes me want to carry one into my cranky coffee shop, stroller first, and say, "Remember me? I was in here yesterday and you wouldn't wait on me? Big mistake. Big! Huge!"
Maybe it's time for the indies to take a cue from the chains and make some room for the stroller set. Or at least not be so judgmental when it comes to fast food. It's nice to have a place where no one flinches when families walk in mid-meltdown and where grandparents giggle watching babies taste French fries for the first time. Personally, I find it comforting that my post-preschool hangout is here for my daughter's generation and feel like giving Mickey D's a little pat on the back for modernizing themselves. So until there's a place that supports sustainable farming with organic food that's open twenty-four hours a day (or at least for lunch!), I certainly won't be boycotting the Golden Arches.
Article photo: Ryan C. Hartsock
©2008 Jennifer Blaise Kramer and Nerve Media
About the Author
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Jennifer Blaise Kramer is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in the Boston Globe, Boston Magazine and National Geographic Traveler. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with her husband, daughter and black lab.
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