The look in my children's eyes when I say, 'Shall we have McDonald's tonight?' as if I were their hero

Got home before 6 PM.
That feeling of despair the moment I get home after picking the kids up from daycare.
Before I knew it, it arrived again today.
The pressure of, 'What's for dinner?'

Even if I open the fridge, all that's there is a wilted cabbage and rock-hard frozen meat. From here, I have to defrost, cut, stir-fry, and clean up...
No, I can't do it anymore. I'm at capacity.
My brain just paused. Impossible. I only have rice.

...Alright, let's have McDonald's tonight.

The moment I let those words out, cheers from the children echoed through the living room.
My son looked up to the heavens and shouted, 'Yes!'
I mean, they don't get that excited when I cook, do they? Haha.
It's a little sad, though.
But their honest, pure joy was actually nice to see.

Honestly, I do feel a tiny bit of guilt, you know?
A really small sense of guilt like, 'I'm feeding them junk food again,' or 'Their nutritional balance is a disaster.'
I almost get blinded for a second by the brilliance of the 'mindful living' I see on social media.

But!!
The moment I opened the McDonald's bag, the alluring scent of those fries drifted out, and
my guilt flew away somewhere in an instant. It's delicious and ready to eat right away.

Above all, I don't have to stand in front of the stove.
I don't have to wash a frying pan splattered with oil.
I don't have to get angry, watching the clock and yelling, 'Eat faster!'
Because when it's McDonald's, they actually eat. Haha.

An overwhelming sense of relief.

Watching the kids stuff their faces with nuggets with big smiles on their faces,
I think, 'Well, it's okay to have days like this sometimes,' and
my shoulders relax, and I gain time just by buying it.
This is also a valid defense mechanism for surviving every day.
Rather than a mom who makes a perfect, nutritionally balanced meal but is irritable and nagging, a mom who eats McDonald's and laughs together saying, 'This is delicious,' is
surely what my family needs right now.

Telling myself that conveniently,
I also indulge in the guilty pleasure of fries, nuggets, and burgers,
The best.

I do aim for 100 points every day, but
if I don't rely on the kindness of junk food sometimes and spoil myself, I'm going to collapse!!

Do you all have any go-to menus for when you decide, 'I can't do it anymore today!' and get through dinner?
Let's share our guilt here! Haha.

📌 This note is written by a mother of two who is impatient, speaks fast, and lives in a rush, sharing realizations she has when she suddenly stops in the midst of the daily hustle. If you resonate with this, I would be very happy if you could support me with a 'Like' or a follow.✨

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