Friday, 4 October 2013

McDonalds a Time Out Spot for Grandparents


Sometimes McDonalds Is the Healthiest Place to Go


I apologize as the last two posts have not been entertaining and that the topic has been stress.  

I have moved to a new office and have a new group of people to get to know along with all of their work.   They are a great group and welcomed me with an assortment of gluten free desserts.  Change however is exhausting even positive change.

My work stress has an impact on my grandparenting abilities and to think otherwise would be to deliberately grandparent outside my limits.   

It is at times like this that I appreciate the McDonalds play area and coffee.
When I am providing care for our grandchildren alone and I have reached that point where I need a time out we go to McDonalds.  I could set the children in front of the TV or send them to their room for quiet time but these seem like punishments and I do not like them watching too much TV.

I get some time with my handcrafts and a good cup of coffee while the girls get to play in a safe space away from me.  
I used to feel guilty about using McDonalds this way until the day that I came upon a mother nursing her infant and silently crying.  I asked if I could help and she said no that being here, at McDonalds was the help she needed: sometime away from her other children to feed the baby and have an uninterrupted cup of tea.

Sure enough 15 minutes later this same mother restored and smiling, bundled all her children up and went home.  As she passed me she smiled and said “now they will sleep for another 30 minutes”.

Thank you McDonalds for your playrooms, coffee, tea and seating so that we can see our children/supervise and be away from the noise.

Grandma Snyder

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