Thursday, June 21, 2012

The Restaurant of Fancy Nancy

I finally did it.  I made the commitment to eat healthy.  I have been struggling for the last few weeks and today after eating too much for lunch I decided no more!  I was not going to eat again until dinner, and it would be a super low-cal, healthy dinner.  No exceptions.

Approximately 5 minutes later, Jessica came walking into the room.  "Mom, are you hungry?"

"Nope."

"Are you sure you're not hungry?"

"Yes, I'm sure!"

I hear her voice start to shake.  "Are you just a little bit hungry?"

I turn around and see her face has fallen.  Apparently, I haven't been paying attention.  She is asking me for a reason.  I can see that now.

"Well, yes-- I am just a little bit hungry."

Her face brightens.  "Perfect!  I'll be right back!"

Five minutes later she comes into my room, in a dress and Sunday shoes and a big smile.  "You have been invited to the Restaurant of Fancy Nancy!  I am here to escort you.  Please come this way, Madame."

Great.

I follow her as she leads me outside.  She seats me at the patio table and hands me a menu.  "Please take a look and see what you would like, m'am," then disappears into the house.

Ok, I have a dilemma.  Remember that I wasn't going to eat anything more until dinner?  And now I have a menu with all sorts of options in front of me.  I decide to at least try and choose the healthier looking options.  I go with fruit salad and toast with apricot jam.  It takes her several minutes to come back and take my order.  It's hot outside-- almost 100 degrees.  I move the table into the shade.

Finally, she comes and takes my order.  She then takes the menu and then hands me a jar with broken crayons and a sheet of paper labeled. "Activity paper."  It has a maze drawn on the front, and directions to draw a picture on the back.

"I'll be right back, Miss!" she says as she disappears inside again.

I complete the maze and turn the paper over.  Then I draw a picture of a cute little blonde girl with glasses and label it, "My Adorable Waitress."

Then I wait.

After a few minutes, I start to add more detail to the picture.  The dress gets colored in.  I draw hearts all over.  The writing gets embellished.

And I wait some more.

I start to wonder what messes are being made inside.  I hadn't put anyone in charge of the littles, so I'm scared to death of what they are up to.  I contemplate going inside, but don't want to ruin things for Jesi.  I add even more detail to the picture.

It's been at least 30 minutes.

I hear the basketball bouncing and call out for Taylor or Parker, hoping they can go in and check on Jessica for me.  Nothing.  I see Sophi smiling at me through the window and try to tell her to tell Jessica to come outside.  She just continues to smile at me.  I think of all the things I should be doing.  I add even more detail to the picture.

Finally, after about 40 minutes, my cute little waitress comes back out.

"Whew!  Sorry about the wait, Ma'am.  I didn't know how long it took to make fruit salad!  By the way, sorry about the toast being cold-- I made it first!"

She hands me a HUGE bowl of cut up fruit and two pieces of cold toast with apricot jam.  Then she stands there as I eat my food.  Chocolate milk to wash it down.  No sneaking some of it into the trash.  I have to eat it all.  I try telling her how delicious it tastes, but that I am beginning to feel full and watch her eyes well up with tears.  Immediately, I change my tune and tell her that there is no way I can be too full for a meal like this one.  She brightens, and I try to tell myself that surely God will remove the calories from this meal.

After I finish, I am handed a map.  "Please follow this to your treasure, Monsieur!"  I decline to tell her that I am not a man.  The map leads me around the yard to various places until I find a leftover Valentine in one of the bushes-- my treasure.

Later on in the day, I decide that I've already ruined my "diet" and proceed to eat a hamburger, countless Milk Duds, a cookie, a yogurt, some almonds, and another big glass of chocolate milk.  I guess my resolve wasn't as strong as I thought.

I love our little Jessica.
 







The Bus




The bus is getting closer...

This is Sophi waiting for the bus.  See the smiles?  That is because she is so excited for the bus to come and take her to preschool.  Excited, that is, until the bus pulls up.  At that point the smiles are gone and Miss Grumpy pays a visit.  The complaint?  She doesn't want Kevin to be her bus driver.  Every time she sees him, she yells, "I don't want Kevin!" and throws some type of fit as I strap her in.  This has happened every Tuesday and Thursday since Kevin replaced her former bus drive about three months ago.  (For the record, it also took her a couple of months to get used to her first bus driver!)   Kevin seems like the sweetest guy, and she can't tell us why she doesn't like him-- just that she wants her old bus driver.  He doesn't even touch her-- I buckle her in and her teacher unbuckles her.  He plays fun music and is softspoken and sweet.  My "mother's sense" tells me he is a very good guy, and I'm not worried that he has done anything to make her not like him.  She just hates change, and so she hates him! 

Well, this week a new bus driver pulled up.  She screamed her little head off saying over and over, "I want KEVIN!"  She threw the biggest fit when I strapped her in her carseat and sent her off with the substitute driver, kicking and screaming like she never has before.  This turned out to be a huge blessing, because the substitute somehow helped her realize that she does indeed like Kevin!  In fact, it's all she can talk about now.  "I like Kevin!  He is my nice bus driver!  I don't want a new bus driver.  Kevin is my favorite!"  And so on.  So thank you, poor substitute driver who had to listen to her wails, for finally putting an end to Sophi's disdain for Kevin.  You have made our mornings much more pleasant.  (: