On Wednesday we had to get out of the house for the day as dp and his brother were dismantling the heating system in order to fit the radiators that have been decoratively leaning against walls for 9 months or so. Decorative is good of course, but not quite so good as the external temperature dropped. Of course the weather was against us doing anything exciting with our day out, so I decided instead we’d kill two birds with one stone and do clothes shopping as Big is currently living up to her nickname and has grown out of all cold weather clothing left over from last year.
So, we tootled off to Asda. Oh yes, we know how to live. Our little town has next to no clothing shops with clothing for pre teens – we’d check out the one offering and knew there was nothing there that excited her. Next town along has plenty of shops, but parking is awful, the weather was dubious and I don’t know my way around, so I tend to avoid it wherever possible. Which is pretty much always. Asda had been recommended by a source requested she remained anonymous (blow her street cred or something apparently) as doing decent quality t shirts and so on for reasonable prices. Seemed like a good place to start, and it also had my secret weapon in the carpark – McDonalds.
Now, I know that the received wisdom in nutritional circles and often in parenting is that McDonalds is the root of all evil. I know that it’s not a good corporation in terms of world domination and all that either. We certainly don’t make a habit of eating there – but if we’re travelling or stuck for something to eat, I will aim for one when necessary for very simple reasons.
1) I know that I can feed the whole family, including me there, and it won’t break the bank. This is not to be sniffed at. Small doesn’t eat chips – McDonalds do fruit bags or carrot sticks, so he actually has a choice of alternatives. He’s also not that big on burgers, so the fishfingers are a bit of a lifesaver. I know there’s always a vegetarian alternative – it may not be the most exciting choice in the world, but it’s always there. There are also non fizzy drinks – always amazed at how few places seem to realise that lots of children don’t drink fizzy drinks. The bill for four of us, including pudding, came to £17 on this occasion.
2) Free wifi. Does this really need explaining? On this particular occasion we were killing time, so we had a very leisurely lunch and instead of going out of my head listening to the racket in there (the acoustics are awful!) I could whip out my phone and keep up with the online world instead. Of course I could have perused a real paper paper, but I can’t see Smallest letting me do that for long!
3) Clean bathrooms. The number of eating places that have deeply awful bathrooms always dismays and astonishes me. I’ve yet to find a McDonalds with a bad bathroom – the nearest we’ve ever got is having to tell one that they’d run out of loo roll in one cubicle, and watching someone go to rectify it immediately.
4) Hot apple pies. Nom nom.
So, are there any McDonalds alternatives out there that can tick those boxes that I’m missing? Cafes in supermarkets often offer really awful children’s meals, and they aren’t terribly cheap either. I bet I couldn’t have fed four of us 2 courses for under £30 in either Asda or Tesco. Burger King is no good – no chips alternative, and the veggie option is usually awful. Pubs are hit and miss, and some just aren’t child friendly – Little Chef is too pricey for words – did I miss anything out?
Asda came up trumps in the clothing department in terms of a reduced price top and leggings, along with a two pack of long sleeved T shirts, not breaking the bank at £11 for the lot. Then we moved on to Tesco where we scored reduced price jeans, a very lovely short skirt, couple more tops and some tights. Turns out we got completely the wrong size tights so will be trying again with them, but for another £30+ Big now has a core winter wardbrobe, no doubt to be topped up gradually through my usual technique of scavenging our local charity shops.
It wasn’t much of a fun way to spend a half term day out, but it did what we needed to do, pretty much. Oh, giving me a voucher for £5 a further spend of £25 clothes was a lovely thought Tesco, but completely pointless when it only lasts 5 days. I wish companies wouldn’t do this. It doesn’t fool anyone does it? Vouchers that expire in minutes? They aren’t really money off, they are a completely empty gesture, one that’s likely to make me search for alternatives instead of returning. Shame.
BTW this post is not at all sponsored. We paid our way throughout.
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