Oh, McDonald’s, why do you vex me so? When you do the girl toy/boy toy thing it causes so much drama in my household.
See, your girl toys almost always suck. My daughter despises those Madame Alexander dolls you are so fond of pushing off on us. The Wizard of Oz ones are a new kind of creepy.
When I go to McDonald’s and they ask the dreaded "Is this for a girl or a boy?" question, I’m always stuck. My daughter always wants the boy toy, but if I say it’s for a boy, she freaks. If I say "It’s for a girl, but we want a boy toy", invariably we get the girl toy anyway. Even if I just say "I’d like a boy toy, please", my daughter cries. "I don’t want the BOY toy, mama, I want the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles toy! They’re not just for boys, are they? Why do the boys always get the good toys?"
I wish I knew why the boys always got the good toys. It’s like that Christmas song Up On The Housetop. Nell gets a stupid doll in her stocking and that’s it. Who cares if it opens and shuts its eyes? Will gets a hammer and tacks and a whistle and a ball AND a whip that cracks. So jealous.
So, McDonald’s, I hate to whip out a can of political correctness on you, but could you please, please, please, for the sake of a little girl who doesn’t understand, could you please, please, PLEASE stop calling them girl toys and boy toys? Could we just call them "Madame Alexander" and "Turtle" toys and go on with our day? It’d be much appreciated.
stop going to mcdonalds
I worked at McDonalds for years, and I always hated the moment we would get the gendered toys. Like the toys themselves have a tiny penis or a wee vagina in them.
I always tried to offer "the Turtles toy or the Oz toy". So many times there would be a long pause, and the the question, "yes, but which one of those is the BOY toy?" whichever one your little boy would rather play with. Ask him, not me.
We had one parent furiously embarassed that her son wanted the "girl" teddy bear toy rather than the "boy" car toy. Seriously? Who cares? It's a ninety cent toy.
In slight defense of the McDonald's employees- I worked at a McD's as my first job when I was 16. At that time we had barbie and hotwheels. I also took issue with the whole boy/girl thing and would just pass them out at random- only to have parents come back screaming at me that their child couldn't possibly play with a toy meant for the opposite gender. I would've found it refreshing to have a little girl want the hotwheel. Admittedly the cars were cooler, they came with this little launcher thing. The barbie was just a plastic piece of crap that you couldn't even change the clothes on. But anyway, don't put 100% of blame on the employees. Most of them probably mean well but are underpaid for the amount of bitching they'll get either way from parents.
I understand that kids are going to wind up at McDonalds whether you approve or not.
My mum was never anti junk food, but she was discerning about what kind of junk food we could have. We could have pizza or fish and chips from the locally owned take away places, but SHE would never pay for McDonalds or KFC.
The way she looked at it is every time she pays for something, she votes. Nothing lets corporations know that they're doing something wrong more than NOT SPENDING MONEY THERE.
She was also pragmatic and knew that sometimes other people would take him there. She just wasn't going to spend HER vote there!
Sometimes my brother would chuck tantrums about not being allowed to go to McDonalds, mum just wouldn't accept that kind of behaviour.
"Every tantrum that you throw you lose a beloved toy"
or
"Next time when I say "no" to McDonalds, if you accept it with dignity, I will let you choose where we DO go"
I understand that sometimes take away food is the best option. But that doesn't mean that that option or vote has to be spent at McDonalds.
The reason the boys toys rock at McDonalds (personally I've never taken my son there), is because girls get 3 times the clothing choices at every store you go to than boys and the girls clothes are 10 times hipper/cooler/cuter than the ugly basic boy cloths!
It's justice.
If only there was really a Corporate Deathburger. I'd eat there every day, because it sounds awesome and who wouldn't want the rusty beartrap for their toy surprise?!
Anyone else find tremendous irony in the fact that the corporate deathburger comment was made by Wendy?
Sorry Wendy, you might be terribly nice, I just find that hysterical.
Billie – I agree that the best option here is to avoid fast food, but that's not always an option. Now from what Ivy wrote, she obviously cares about her kids or she wouldn't be so frustrated over the situation. You make it sound like she's an uncaring selfish person, which is not the case.
Given that the kids are going to end up at a McDonald's or other fast food joint at various points anyway (with school, friends, etc.), perhaps it's better to teach them how to make the best possible choices there rather than just saying, "Oooh, the devil!" You can't possibly assume the entire character of Ivy's parenting skills based on the occasional less-than-ideal meal.
Oh good Lord.
"Corporate deathburger", oh so pithy, I can hardly stand it.
Fast food is a "treat" in our household, not a staple. And for many, many reasons I try to avoid McYuck but that being said, sometimes we still end up there and more often than not it's during their girl/boy toy season (which is frakkin' ridiculous).
I think Ivy was merely relating in one post, the culmination of experiences from McD's that have happened over time. It's terribly rude and short-sighted to accuse her of not caring for her kids just because she takes them to McD's. This forum exists as a place where parents can discuss the issues that we deal with and be encouraged that we are "not the only ones" who are experiencing certain joys and difficulties of raising children.
Oh, Ivy, don't let the trolls get to you. There will always be someone ignoring the issue (and the thought put into writing about it) at hand and offering pseudo-advice under the guise of "asking the obvious."
Great post–I'm 28, and I always hated the girl toys. Good moms pay attention to such. My mom did :).
Y'all can accuse me of not caring about my kids all day and all night, but it is simply not true. We eat at McDonald's- hell, fast food very rarely. It's generally on nights where there is very little time between picking them up from school and taking them to some other event.
Any parent who can say they have never taken their kids to a fast food joint, I applaud them, but I must say, they are probably pretty rare. Sometimes there just isn't enough time to drive all the way home and feed the kids.
Oh yuck, how about just not eating at corporate deathburger?
OK, I know I'm just asking the obvious here but; why the heck do you go there? Bad food, rude service (if you can call it service) bad for you, bad for the environment and crappy, sexist toys?
You're pretty much saying "I keep going there and giving them my money for treating me like crap and they wont change." Why would they change? You still give them money. Yes this sexism sucks so stop putting up with it. Go somewhere else – ideally not just another fast food joint – but anywhere else would help.
If I was a dreamer I'd say care enough about your kid to get them a decent meal, but based on this I just don't see that happening.
Here from Aunt B.'s.
Magickitty, LOVE that your boy stared the clerk down.
Be joyous. That's a skill he will need and has cultivated early. Perhaps he can give me lessons.
(If it happens again, I will trade him the pony for the robot – another way to maneuver around the system is for all the genders to make friends.)
Thanks for this post. I go through this crap every time I go to McDonald's and it annoys the hell out of me. My kid wants to see the toys for herself and decide which one she wants. This girl/boy shit is just wrong!
(Hi, I'm random traffic. Sorry, I can't remember who linked to this post.)
As a mother of a 3 yr old boy this also chaps my ass. A boy who chose the My Little Pony toy instead of the robot toy… and who had to stare down the cashier until she pulled it out for him.
He's friggin' three. He can like any toys he wants!
this is funny, because I was at McDonald's the other day, and I ordered a happy meal and got that stupid little doll, and I took it back to the counter and demanded a ninja turtle. I'm 24, by the way. I'm glad to know I have something in common with your six-year-old daughter 😉
I go through this exact same thing every time we go to McDonald's and have been going through it since my daughter was a toddler (she is now eight). When they ask me the boy/girl question, I simply respond with "What are the toys?" and then when they answer I say "she will have the ninja turtle" or whatever other toy she wants. I will say that the other night my husband took her there and they didn't even both to ask the question, they just saw she was a girl and gave her the "girl toy" (my husband, having the fabulous male privilege of never having to deal with this issue, didn't think to clarify which toy she wanted). I just used this as a way to talk to her about these issues and also to re-inforce that there are plenty of stupid and narrow-minded folks out there and she may as well learn to deal with them now.
My girl likes the "girl toys" but I do agree with this entire post. And yes the "boy toys" are usually way cooler.
We were just at McDonald's tonight and had the very same issue. My 4 year old daughter can't stand the girl toys and always requests the boy toys. She got three of the same ninja turtles and could not be happier. And I agree, the wizard of oz doll that my older daughter got was very weird.
Oh, Ivy, this is rich! As a girl who used to play with cars and trucks in lieu of Barbie I can completely understand. The boy toys just seemed SO much cooler. Why in th wworld would any normal person want to play with a silly doll when I could have had a remote controlled car? 🙂
I hope McD's hears you.