Health Food

Like it or not, McDonald's and motherhood go together.  Sure, this might make you cringe.  There will be the few moms out there who somehow miraculously and courageously avoid the Golden Arches at all costs and no doubt their children had a healthier lunch than mine.

But, for those of us normies who fess up to defaulting to the Happy Meal when our children are throwing fits and the fridge is scarce...welcome.  You are in good company.


We live about a mile away from a McDonald's with the hugest indoor playland I've ever seen for a fast food restaurant.  It's a giant, plastic, climbing fantasy land for my kids, and completely closed off to the rest of the restaurant so I can feel fine about them screaming their heads off without disturbing the entire universe.  They can roam about freely, check in for the occasional sip from a juice box or nibble of a chicken McNugget, and continue on their way without interrupting (too often) my own lunch.

Yes, they are devouring food that's higher in calories and fat.  They are climbing on slides swarming with germs.  They are loud and obnoxious and not sitting still for a single second.  We're not here for our physical health, certainly (though the playland does work up a good sweat for them).

I'm not here for my health, I'm here for my mental health.  And sometimes it is just totally worth it.

No one is proud to go to McDonald's.  I remember the first time I succumbed to the drive-thru when my girls were very little.  I was stressed out and they were screaming, and instead of dropping everying, heading home, and chopping up carrot sticks, I found myself frantically tossing chicken McNuggets at the backseat and drowning my woes in a large Diet Coke.  Whew.

Literally fell asleep holding a chicken McNugget

I'm over the guilt now.  Maybe it's exhaustion, or laziness, or just the fact that I don't have time or mental space to dedicate to feeling badly about my toddler falling asleep holding a chicken McNugget.  But, meeting friends for a play date at McDonald's provides a different outlet for my mental health that I can live with.  Meeting friends, letting my kids be silly, allowing them a little autonomy and freedom and space, while I can actually finish a meal with limited distraction and even engage in conversations with other grown-ups...well, that's worth a LOT in my book.

Obviously, I'm not promoting a new diet for children that's cheeseburger-centric.  If you can always plan ahead and create home-cooked meals for your kids, that's certainly the best option for food.  But, if you're like me, then mealtimes don't always have to center around the nutritional value (albeit, important) but can extend to the relational value found as well.  While nutritional and relational values don't have to be mutually exclusive - sometimes they are.

All this to say, sometimes I think it's more important to take guilt off the menu than sugar or fat.

So, if you find yourself guilt-ridden in a drive-thru or cringing at the thought of what your toddler might be ingesting for the sake of a few minutes peace...join me in a refreshing sigh of relief knowing that you aren't alone.  Your kids will be okay.  Your kids will still eat vegetables.  Your kids can still grow up knowing the value of time together at the family dinner table.  Your kids won't be totally spoiled.  Your kids are NORMAL.  And, if they make some new friends over a french fries and sweat their way to nap-time in a castle of grime, maybe you can even smile about it.

They don't call it a Happy Meal for nothing.

For a fun feature, here's comedian Jim Gaffigan's bit about McDonald's.  There are few crass moments (I wouldn't watch it with the kids) but, it's great for a laugh.  Enjoy, mamas!

MOPS Winner!

I am happy to announce we have a winner of the one year MOPS membership!  Hooray!

Congratulations 

Jessica Garcia

Here is the photo with the caption submitted by Jessica:

Haha!  I think this is something ALL of us mamas can relate too, am I right?  Man, how many times am I cringing during the day as I pick off itsy-bitsy pieces of nonsense from the soles of my feet?!?  ARGHH!

Maybe it is a miracle ANY of us have any hair left at all!

I was just telling my husband the other night how I wish God had made toddlers with their own built-in vacuums!  Can you imagine how much easier life would be if toddlers came with one leg as a little "roomba" that just swept up behind them as they waddled around dropping snacks left and right?

Way to go, Jessica!  Thanks for capturing a stressful thought that all of us can empathize with!

Thanks to everyone who submitted a funny caption - it was a blast reading through the hilarious options and difficult to choose only one winner.  Maybe we will have to do this again sometime!

Happy Monday, Mamas!

MOPS Giveaway!

Being a mom is crazy hard.  Ridiculously hard.  Way-harder-than-any-of-us-ever-thought hard.

But, you know what makes it even harder?  When we think we see moms who have it all together, who are doing it "better" than us, or who have way cuter Instagram pics when we can't even get our kids to keep their eyes open for the flash.  Ugh.

Being a mom is hard enough that living in a world where someone is Pinteresting their latest mega-DIY-birthday might make us "real moms" all wanna go jump off a cliff.  Seriously.

I don't know about you, but my best defense to feeling like a total mom-fail is meeting other moms.  I don't mean just reading blogs (though, THANK YOU) or texting, or diving into Pinterest over nap time.  No, no, no.  I mean real life contact with another grown up human female who has procreated.  That's right - connecting with other moms.

Moms.  Yes, I'm talking to you/us.  We need to GET OUT.  We need to meet each other.  And, while the blogosphere can get us FAR in the middle of a spit-up-covered, laundry-overloaded, don't-even-care-what's-for-dinner kind of day...it takes genuine contact to ultimately interrupt our Disney-channel-consuming lives.  (Seriously, I need another Veggie Tales singalong like I need a hole in the head.)

SO, let's break out of our bubbles this week!  Let's put a date on the calendar to meet up with another mom - if only to commiserate and high five!  We are survivors - every day tackling the mundane with the same wanna-be enthusiasm of a revival preacher.  We need each other, and if we don't get out there and encourage one another, then we're just as guilty of neglecting friendship as we are neglecting shaving our legs (a scary reality for some of us, right?)

Have you heard about MOPS?  MOPS is one amazing way to connect, and chances are good it is in your neighborhood.  There are MOPS groups all over the USA!  Check out their blog for gobs of info on meeting up with other moms and getting all kinds of tips and advice on parenting youngsters.

I am a big supporter of MOPS, and today, I'm so excited to be giving away a ONE YEAR MOPS MEMBERSHIP to a lucky reader!

How do you get it???  Well, for the next few days, (deadline is September 8th) all you have to do is CAPTION THE PHOTO BELOW!

I hope you laugh at the photo captions I've put on the other photos in today's blog (LOL here) and I'm looking for a silly and original caption for the photo above that every mom can relate to.  C'mon - we all need more humor in our day!

You can tweet me the caption @pardymama or email it to emily@pardymama.com or just post it in the comment space below.  I'll be checking out your captions and choosing my favorite to award the MOPS MEMBERSHIP!!!

Let's hear it for the moms!  Yay!