I know, I know. It was silly and arrogant to believe that I would live my whole life without becoming the mom who found the nearest drive-through at lunch time so I could finish the afternoon errands without a detour home for fluffanutta and organic milk. Until last month I could count the number of times I had eaten fast food in the last four years on one hand. And then I went to Wendy’s. And then I went there again. And, today, again.
Somehow I forgot the snacks, and I totally underestimated the time that it would take to shower, dress, unload the dishwasher, throw in a load of laundry, change a diaper, hop into the car, hit some traffic on the way to the fabric store, wander in the fabric store, load Milo and the purchases into the car and begin the drive home. Before I even realized it wasn’t morning anymore, it was lunch time. And nap time. I considered whether we could make it the 20 minutes home. I could try, but Milo would probably fall asleep, hungry, and wake up when I try to transfer him into bed. Then maybe he would go back to sleep, but wake up early because he didn’t have lunch…and was hungry.
Or, I could quickly swing through that Wendy’s drive through which happens to share a parking lot with the fabric store, order him a hamburger kid’s meal (replace the meat with cheese, no sauce) with milk and mandarin oranges, ask for a free frosty at the window, squish the plain cheese sandwich between my hands so he can’t take the pieces apart, put the milk into his sippy, munch on the fries they accidentally gave me instead of the oranges, and enjoy the free (vanilla, but free) frosty. And get home with a still tired, but now full child ready to be changed, snuggled and tucked in for an albeit late, but now nice and long nap.
And I could be handsomely rewarded for that choice with the coolest kid’s meal toy ever. Groucho glasses. I might even will go back to get some more. I think they inspire creativity. And maybe even off-set whatever negative effects made me not want to become that mom. Who I am becoming…
