A family of fast food aficionados hired a photographer to capture their daughter’s first McDonald’s Happy Meal, which she ate to celebrate her first birthday.
Birthday girl Mila Maclay was born into a family of McDonald’s fans, her parents Elizabeth, 32, and Matthew Maclay, 40, of Boston, Massachusettseven ate McDonald’s as their wedding meal.
So for Mila’s first birthday, Elizabeth knew she had to do something special. She decided to ditch the popular cake-smash photoshoot tradition and hired a photographer to capture Mila’s first Happy Meal.
The happy photos show little Mila with a boy in one hand and a McNugget in the other – devouring a meal in her local park.
Elizabeth, 32, and Matthew Maclay, 40, of Boston, Massachusetts, hired a photographer to celebrate their daughter Mila’s first birthday and first Happy Meal
Birthday girl Mila Maclay was born into a family of McDonald’s fans, her parents Elizabeth and Matthew Maclay even ate McDonald’s as their wedding meal
For Mila’s first birthday, Elizabeth decided to ditch the popular cake-smash photoshoot tradition and instead hire a photographer to capture her first Happy Meal.
The happy photos show little Mila with chicken nuggets in both hands, fries on her lap and a hamburger next to her – devouring the meal
Elizabeth said, “Mila loved McDonald’s. It was so cute. The photos turned out great.
“Cakes are kind of boring and she’ll have them for the rest of her life. I thought why don’t you have a Happy Meal? It was her first.
“When she took her first bite, she loved it. It was so funny because I wasn’t sure.
“She’s never had fast food or nuggets before, so I didn’t know how it would go, but she didn’t hesitate.
“She just went in. She had a bowl in one hand, a nugget in the other, and she loved it.
“I hope she becomes as much of a fan as I am in the future. I wanted to pass on the joy.’
Stay-at-home mom Elizabeth and her husband Matthew decided to stage the shoot to commemorate their daughter’s first taste of McDonald’s — because they wanted to try something “unique”.
Although Mila had never eaten fast food, the one-year-old didn’t hesitate to dig in and her mom said she “loved McDonald’s”
Mila loved her first Happy Meal so much that when the shoot was over she started screaming and crying for more nuggets
Elizabeth and her husband Matthew decided to host the shoot to commemorate the first time their daughter tasted McDonald’s – because they wanted to try something ‘unique’
The photographer even liked the idea of swapping a cake for a Happy Meal, saying it was “cute”
Elizabeth said, “I’ve loved McDonald’s all my life, ever since I was little. At my husband and I’s wedding we had a large late night snack from McDonald’s
“I’ve always loved McDonald’s and thought it would be really cute to have a little Happy Meal instead of a cake smash.
“The photographer had never done it before, she had done a lot of cake smashes, but when I shared the idea she just thought it was cute. She said ‘we absolutely must do this’.
“Mila absolutely loved it. When the shoot was over, we took the nuggets off her and she screamed. She loved them.
“Every child remembers a Happy Meal. I remember when I was little, after a doctor’s appointment or after we had injections, my mother would always take me to McDonald’s.
“I think cake smashes are cute and we made a cake too, but I wanted to do something different and more memorable. I wanted to do something more unique.
“After posting the video online, everyone loved it.
“It was like she was the perfect actress for the pictures at the time. It was so sweet.’
While it is recommended that children from the age of one year have Happy Meals so that they can chew and digest it properly; a Happy Meal should not be part of a child’s growing diet, because fast food cannot be a completely healthy meal.
Mila’s Happy Meal included a cheeseburger, a small serving of McNuggets chicken, and a side of French fries.
While TikTok users loved the video of Mila devouring her first Happy Meal and praising Elizabeth for her “brilliant” idea, others added that the meal was “too much salt” for kids.
A small serving of McNuggets chicken has a total of 225 calories and 170 mg of salt, a Happy Meal cheeseburger has a total of 660 calories and 970 mg of salt, and a side of fries has a total of 110 calories and 90 mg of salt; together, Mila’s Happy Meal has 995 calories and 1,230 mg of sodium, which is just 270 mg less than the daily recommendation of 1,500 mg for a child aged one to three years.
The video of Mila’s first McDonald’s has since been viewed more than 400,000 times and attracted more than 794 comments and 33,000 likes.
On TikTok, viewers praised the stay-at-home mom for her “brilliant” idea and shared their own experiences with toddler photo shoots.
One mother wrote: ‘I love this idea! Little man turns one on Saturday. Assuming I could do this.’
One photographer said, ‘I love this! I’m a photographer and babies usually cry at cake smashes, that definitely makes them happier.’
Another parent said, “Think I’ll be doing this with my son in 5 months.”
A fellow TikToker said, ‘I love it! Life is short, let the baby eat a chicken nugget.’
While it is recommended that children as young as one year old have Happy Meals so that they can chew and digest it completely, it is not recommended that the fast food item be considered part of a growing child’s diet as the products in them have high levels of salt, fat and calories.
And while many users loved the idea of treating the annual, many were quick to point out how unhealthy the food was.
“No, not McDonald’s, it’s that bad for them,” said one user.
Another user adds: ‘Absolutely not the amount of salt.’
‘Oh my god, dirty. Do you know what’s in there??? even wild animals don’t touch it,” says a third user.