The other day at the McDonald’s drive-thru, I was ordering the kids the usual hamburger and McNuggets, apples slices, fries and chocolate milks.
Then my son called out – NO Mommy! I want a HAPPY MEAL! My 2 year old daughter also got into the act and started chanting – Appy-EEL Mommy! Appy-EEL! Pease Mommy! I quickly tried to explain to them both that this was what I was ordering for them.
But being that he is a 4 year old and she is a 2 year old, I had to reiterate a few times before they calmed down and realized that, YES, they were getting the Happy Meals. It was quite the outburst from the back seat.
After we got home and they were calmly eating their Happy Meals, I asked them why they were so concerned about getting a Happy Meal. I just assumed that they were worried about getting the toys.
But Mommy, my son said, – when we have Happy Meals we make other kids HAPPY! I realized that he was right about this, as 10 cents of every Happy Meal goes to Ronald McDonald House, but I continued to question him about where he got this information.
Turns out Grandma had taken them to McDonald’s for lunch and decided to give them a quick lesson in philanthropy. My Mom’s explanation was that when you order a Happy Meal another child has a chance at being happier, as money goes to help them get better.
Grandma only said this to them once.
Again proving that kids are sponges for information and sometimes they really can understand concepts if you can explain it to them in terms that they can understand.
Grandma was pretty proud that they remembered, so am I.
YES Corinne the kids (ME) have been collecting the toys! I hope we get all of them as they run out very quickly! Oh so cute! Are there 8 of them?!??!?
Have you all seen the amazing new Olympic themed toys going into the Happy Meals… I’m lovin it! I want the whole collection.
I LOVE that they are so willing to help and I too was impressed how they understand more than we think they do. Definitely Kudos to my Mom for explaining it to them on a level that they would understand.
I think you definitely need to tell them Jen! It is amazing how natural it is for our children to want to help others.
I need to tell my kids this! They can feel even better about their choice of a Happy Meal.
Good for your mother! It’s really amazing what our kids understand and how much they want to give back and help too!