I Don't Know. What Do You Want?
Suppertime in our house usually begins with “what do you want to eat.” The correct answer is “something leftover” since by the time I ask the question, it’s too late to prepare anything that requires inputting more than two numbers into the microwave’s timer. Last night we had barbecued beef from the night before, tuna mac casserole of undetermined age, or frozen pizza or hot dogs for the truly adventurous. Ellie’s mealtime answer was “I want to go out.”
With the boys rustling awake in their bedroom, we sat on the couch for five minutes determining a course of action. She wanted to go out, which was fair to me since we hadn’t eaten out recently. We’re not just some DINK couple any more though; we lack the time and funds to leave the house for the sole purpose of avoiding leftovers. When we leave the house now we have to have a minimum of two objectives, and eating out only qualifies as one even though we have to stop for Abbie’s Happy Meal before stopping at a place the adults want to eat. We could stop at K’s Merchandise to see if anything good is left from their going out of business sale, but last time we were there the other buzzards had already picked them dry. We could get groceries, but I’m prepared to add new stock to the refrigerator on the weekend, not Wednesday. We could stop for frozen custard on the way home, but, no, that still qualifies with the original “going out to eat” objective. Maybe we could stop for frozen custard anyway.
We finally settled on stopping at the mall after eating. We could visit the mall-based big box store, even though there’s absolutely nothing we need from them. Afterwards we could visit the mall-based playground and let the kids swap germs. If nothing else, we could always mall walk.
We packed up the kids and drove to our sandwich shop, stopping for Abbie’s Happy Meal on the way since she still shuns sandwiches. At the restaurant, I marveled at how excited she was when we unveiled the Happy Meal sack. I fear we’re thisclose to her begging for a Happy Meal on a daily basis. I’ll really be in trouble when she realizes that she could have fries instead of those apple slices I always get for her and end up eating myself. As she dipped her chicken nuggets in barbecue sauce, I noticed that she can eat neatly when there’s a promise of a toy at the end of the meal. The boys spent the time locked in the stroller, trying out their pincher grasp on handfuls of cereal and flirting with other diners.
After an amazingly pleasant meal, we drove to the mall, specifically the big box store’s entrance. I knew we didn’t need anything, but I looked around anyway. After picking up a couple things on sale, a couple more things on clearance, and a couple cans of formula since we’re running low, I wound up with a $119.30 total at the register.* Since it had been about a week and a half since my last visit, this proves my earlier formula stating that whenever I make the inevitable trip to the big box store, the amount spent will increase proportionally with the time passed since the last visit. That total doesn’t count the additional stop we made at the mall-based children’s clothing store for those blanket sleepers we’d been meaning to pick up.
Finally we walked to the playground. I could tell it had been too long since our last visit to the playground when Abbie took off in a full run when she saw it. I had to drag her to the side to pull her shoes off. She spent the next couple minutes running around the playground in a fit of toddler delirium. The boys spent their time crawling around the decorations, luring curious older children to their side, and screaming when they wandered too far away.
We returned home in time for the bedtime routine. I think it helped Abbie to run off some energy before bedtime as she sucked down her bedtime milk. The boys also seemed to enjoy the chance to get outside the house, see new sights, and spit up on new surfaces. Ellie picked up some things she didn’t know she needed. I was happy because our excursion meant I don’t have to cook again tomorrow, though I hope the tuna mac casserole is still good.
* It would have been more, but I had a $.35 coupon on the laundry detergent.
With the boys rustling awake in their bedroom, we sat on the couch for five minutes determining a course of action. She wanted to go out, which was fair to me since we hadn’t eaten out recently. We’re not just some DINK couple any more though; we lack the time and funds to leave the house for the sole purpose of avoiding leftovers. When we leave the house now we have to have a minimum of two objectives, and eating out only qualifies as one even though we have to stop for Abbie’s Happy Meal before stopping at a place the adults want to eat. We could stop at K’s Merchandise to see if anything good is left from their going out of business sale, but last time we were there the other buzzards had already picked them dry. We could get groceries, but I’m prepared to add new stock to the refrigerator on the weekend, not Wednesday. We could stop for frozen custard on the way home, but, no, that still qualifies with the original “going out to eat” objective. Maybe we could stop for frozen custard anyway.
We finally settled on stopping at the mall after eating. We could visit the mall-based big box store, even though there’s absolutely nothing we need from them. Afterwards we could visit the mall-based playground and let the kids swap germs. If nothing else, we could always mall walk.
We packed up the kids and drove to our sandwich shop, stopping for Abbie’s Happy Meal on the way since she still shuns sandwiches. At the restaurant, I marveled at how excited she was when we unveiled the Happy Meal sack. I fear we’re thisclose to her begging for a Happy Meal on a daily basis. I’ll really be in trouble when she realizes that she could have fries instead of those apple slices I always get for her and end up eating myself. As she dipped her chicken nuggets in barbecue sauce, I noticed that she can eat neatly when there’s a promise of a toy at the end of the meal. The boys spent the time locked in the stroller, trying out their pincher grasp on handfuls of cereal and flirting with other diners.
After an amazingly pleasant meal, we drove to the mall, specifically the big box store’s entrance. I knew we didn’t need anything, but I looked around anyway. After picking up a couple things on sale, a couple more things on clearance, and a couple cans of formula since we’re running low, I wound up with a $119.30 total at the register.* Since it had been about a week and a half since my last visit, this proves my earlier formula stating that whenever I make the inevitable trip to the big box store, the amount spent will increase proportionally with the time passed since the last visit. That total doesn’t count the additional stop we made at the mall-based children’s clothing store for those blanket sleepers we’d been meaning to pick up.
Finally we walked to the playground. I could tell it had been too long since our last visit to the playground when Abbie took off in a full run when she saw it. I had to drag her to the side to pull her shoes off. She spent the next couple minutes running around the playground in a fit of toddler delirium. The boys spent their time crawling around the decorations, luring curious older children to their side, and screaming when they wandered too far away.
We returned home in time for the bedtime routine. I think it helped Abbie to run off some energy before bedtime as she sucked down her bedtime milk. The boys also seemed to enjoy the chance to get outside the house, see new sights, and spit up on new surfaces. Ellie picked up some things she didn’t know she needed. I was happy because our excursion meant I don’t have to cook again tomorrow, though I hope the tuna mac casserole is still good.
* It would have been more, but I had a $.35 coupon on the laundry detergent.
posted by Matt at
10:39 PM
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