Open letter to Wendy's

Dear Wendys...or McDonalds...or Sonic...or [insert your fast food restaurant of choice here] -

I appreciate fast food. Heck, I love fast food. And, shameful as it is for me to admit, I have managed to ensure that my girls love fast food too. I swear for a lot of months in her toddlerhood, Tara thought every drive up window was a Wendy's (bank, drive thru cleaners - all Wendys!!!). And Sonic!!! Need I expound of the virtues and wonders that are my medium vanilla coke that I get every morning on the way to work? I think not. I LOVE FAST FOOD... Ummm....did I say that already?

Here is what I don't love and I think I can speak for most parents out there...we do not love those stupid little bags of 5 gazillion little cardboard pieces that you put in the kids meal / happy meal / wacky pak. Or those little blow up thingys. Or the CD-Rom trivia games. We HATE them!!! All that means is that we have to spend the entire drive home, saying no, we can't open that now... We hate that. And then we spend the first half hour we get home at the end of our long work day "helping" little girls put together 3D cardboard puzzles that will not lock together and that come apart on one end when you try to attach something on the other end... We hate that. Then we have to step in and mediate / stop the impending bloodshed when one little girl's innocent shove...ummm....nudge causes the other little girl's puzzle to collapse... We hate that. Then we have to yell...ummmm...request that said little girls choose another activity before bedtime. We hate that. Oh, yes and then we have to clean up the gazillion pieces that have managed to get spread from one end of the house to the other... We REALLY hate that.

So, I am begging you Wendys, McDonalds, Sonic and all you other fast food chains out there...

Just put a stupid little mini stuffed animal in the bag and call it a day.