My children have been inundated with Chick-Fil-A from birth.   The first thing I ate after my daughter’s delivery was a CFA sandwich.  I have scrapbook pages in each of my daughter’s first year scrapbooks, dedicated to their first Kids Meals at Chick-Fil-A.  The first logo/graphic my son recognized was for Chick-Fil-A.  Anytime he saw a cursive C when he was a toddler, he thought it was the word Chick-Fil-A.   They’ve known and loved the Chick-Fil-A cow since they were babies and we’ve even dressed like one for the past 5 years.

Knowing this complete obsession and undying love fondness for all things Chick-Fil-A which they’ve grown up with will help you better appreciate the conversation my son and I had last week after enjoying the free Labor day Chick-Fil-A sandwiches.

Son: “Mom, I love Chick-Fil-A burgers without the pickles.”

Me: “Really?  More than their nuggets? 

Son: Yea, well it’s the same thing as the nuggets except the nuggets don’t have the bun and I like having the bread b/c its easier to hold.”

Me: “That makes sense, but they aren’t called burgers. Their called chicken sandwiches, because they are not burgers.”

Son: “Oh.  Then why do they have all the cows everywhere?”

We have a plethora of Chick-Fil-A cows in our home.  Each kid has a small one in their bed, I have the Santa cow up in my kitchen at Christmas time, and we even have a giant one in our toy room.  And for the past 5 years my son thought that was because we loved eating Chick-Fil-A cows. 

Oops.

I went on to explain the Chick-Fil-A marketing plan to my five year old.  The cows aren’t there to advertise eating more cows.  Why would cows want to be eaten?  I told him how the cows are there b/c they don’t want us to eat them; they want us to eat chicken instead.  Despite the misunderstanding, Chick-Fil-A is still (and will always remain) our favorite restaurant.

My family’s love for Chick-Fil-A goes deep and wide. 

The first symbol my son recognized was for Chick-Fil-A.  He could “read” it at age 2.  And anytime he saw a cursive C he thought it stood for Chick-Fil-A.  At that same age, I showed him a symbol for the golden arches and he had no idea what it was. 

My daughter’s one year scrapbooks both have pages dedicated to their “first Chick-Fil-A” kids meal experience. 

It’s this deep love for Chick-Fil-A which prompts me to dress my crew like cows and herd them to the local Chick-Fil-A for cow appreciation day every year.  I don’t don cow costumes simply for my desire to get free food.  I do it because I love Chick-Fil-A.  I can tell you right now that if McDonald’s offered me a free meal for dressing like a farm animal, you would not find me showing up dressed head to toe as a cow or chicken or any other mammal. 

I save this public humiliation for one fast food franchise alone.

dear, sweet Chick-Fil-A

…with it’s delicious real, not processed chicken sandwiches and nuggets, it’s sweet tea which is so delicious I would give up my Coke A Cola addiction for it, it’s table toppers so my kids don’t have to eat off messy tables, it’s second miles service with cashiers who will willingly take my tray to the table as I am busy juggling kids, and drinks, and food,  the hostesses who come to my table and refill our drinks, not to mention the indoor play areas, hand spun milkshakes, and Christian values.  Need I go on?  Shall I say more? 

This year we had our very close friends join us for the festivities.  We’d been looking forward to it for weeks.  When D day or shall we say Cow day arrived, they were in the midst of trying to buy a house. They actually invited us to take a look at the house before our dinner date.  While there they decided they did indeed want to put an offer out on the house.  But what about cow appreciation day?  Their realtor graciously offered to follow us to Chick-Fil-A for them to sign their papers.  He ate his dinner while our families enjoyed our dinner date.  Then they signed on the dotted line, cow costume and all, while we entertained the kiddos in the play area.  I can only imagine the conversation he had with his wife that night.  “Honey, you’ll never believe the clients I met with today.  No, no dinner for me dear.  I ate at work…the crazy couple were wearing cow costumes as they filled out the paper work.  Yes, that’s right I said cow costumes….”

Yeah, we’re branded all right…and we seem to share this obsession with our friends as well.

**Cow tipping takes on new meaning as my little calf/acrobat gets down on all fours and asks if I want some milk, after which she does a summersault on the playground floor.