Food Revolution

I knew it was coming.

I thought we might have made it a little longer than a month, but no.

Saturday afternoon, in the middle of  Walmart.  Anybody who is in a Walmart on a Saturday afternoon probably deserves what I got.

What I got was the first official, full fledged Fast Food Meltdown.

You might have already heard that our family New Year's resolution was to swear off fast food for the whole year.  Some of us were really on board with this idea. Some of us were not.   We had gotten to the point that stopping at the drive thru on the way home was becoming a way of life.  It was easy and, well, fast, and gave us one less thing to worry about on crazy busy nights.  But every night was turning into crazy busy.  We were all getting way too much soda and fries. And the garbage from all that take-out was ridiculous. As in, I can't see the carpet on the floor of my car anymore because of all the garbage ridiculous.

So one night, on a wild whim, I threw it out as a suggestion to the kids, and surprisingly, they liked the idea.  We had a few discussions about what constitutes fast food, and what the rules would be,  and my children are RUTHLESS.  We can't go anywhere with a drive thru window, AND no $5 pizza pizza.  An occasional Subway is okay, but only if it comes from a place without a drive thru window.

Which brings us to today, nearly a month into our new lifestyle.

It was an innocent trip to buy a birthday present.

We made the mistake of coming into the Walmart entrance where the McDonald's is located.   Within a few feet of entering, we were ambushed by the smell of french fries and the sight of a five foot tall display of the current Happy Meal offerings, which happens to currently include some stupid Barbie toy. 

It was that damn Barbie that did Olivia in.  First she asked very nicely to go to McDonalds.  The she begged to go to McDonalds.  Then she was suddenly starving for chicken nuggets, and I was the worst mother in the world for denying her.  She whined, pleaded, and bargained throughout our entire shopping experience.   She whined so much her throat started hurting which made her whine more.  Thank  heavens she is going on seven, and was able to contain her disappointment to the whining and crying.  A year or two ago, we would have been kicking and screaming in the middle of the produce department.  This may have been the first day that she fully realized what she had agreed to, and how long a year really is when you are six and a half.

Then the rationalizing started: Audrey had a birthday party  to get to and she had to eat something before going.  Nobody had had lunch yet, and McDonalds was RIGHT THERE and we were running out of time. Payday was yesterday, and it was only me and three kids, we could eat cheap. We made it a whole month, after all, and maybe we should adjust our resolution to just eating out once a month.  So many thought running through my head....and in the end, we did what any sensible, self-respecting  American family would do.

 We  held firm. We finished our shopping and went home and snarfed down some Ramen before getting Audrey to her party.   On time.   We won the battle this time. The resolution stands.