Can't Pass up Free

If dinner is not on the table by 5:30 in our house a couple of things happen ... tempers flare, children whine, decisions become harder, judgment is clouded, chaos ensues ... That brings us to Wednesday.

We didn't arrive home from picking Julie up from work until a couple minutes after 5.  On the meal plan for Wednesday was spaghetti.  Simple enough, but with thawing the sausage, heating the sauce, boiling the noodles, we were looking at dinner around 6.  To complicate the matter, a discussion was intensifying on whether we should take advantage of a coupon Julie had received via email.  Turns out, on Wednesday only, Panda Express was giving away servings of a new shrimp meal and this had caught Julie's eye.  While her mouth said, "Yes, lets just have Spaghetti", I could tell her heart was telling her, "Get the free shrimp".  I am a people pleaser, especially when it comes to Julie.  So, against my better judgment, we all got into the car and headed off to Panda Express ... at right about 5:30.

The ride over was smooth and uneventful.  In the drive-thru we (well Julie) ordered 2 large fried rices and 6 shrimp meals.  I mentioned Julie ordered because for some reason, buried deep in my subconscious I have developed a phobia about looking like a mooch.  Ordering 6 free meals, including one for a baby, still in a carrier, was just too much for me.

I remember watching a show about one of these families that has like 12 kids.  On Saturday they took the whole family to Sam's Club to do their shopping.  They planned that the whole family would eat lunch from the sample carts.  I remember that giving me the heebie-jeebies.  My deal, I know, I'm working on it.

So we escaped Panda Express spending $6 for the rice.  The kids were starting to rumble a little, so we headed for home.  There was, however, one roadblock in our way.  CUPCAKE BAR.  Next to Panda Express is a local bakery called Nona's Sweets.  They have a concoction that some genius came up with in the form of an on the spot, customized to you cupcake bar.  You tell them what flavor cupcake (choice of 3 or 4) and what flavor icing (choice of about 20) and they make it right there in front of you.

Julie spotted it first with a "MMM, Cupcake Bar."  I had already driven past the shop, but something in my head was screaming, "REVERSE".  So that was what I did, right into Nona's reserved parking spaces.

Julie hopped out and it began.  A chant of "cupcake" came from Zoe and Zach.  Zane had a different Chant of course, "ME GO, ME GO, ME GO."  Zadie even got in on the action, screaming because of a blow-out poop (and me with no diaper bag).

Meanwhile, looking through the glass window front, I am realizing another problem with this plan.  It is now nearly 6 o'clock, Julie is hungry and now has to decide between the possible 27,405 cupcake to frosting combination's.  We could be here a while.  After being in there for a few minutes, she came out concerned that the price was too high, but I thought that the price I had already paid for sitting in the car with our crazy children offset whatever Nona could charge.  Don't let the agony I have felt be in vain, "Bring me a cupcake."

Cream Cheese frosting, Chocolate cupcake ... Score!

With Julie back in the car, we headed for home.  " Should I go back and get Zadie?"  "Nothing you can do, we had a blow-out and we have no spare."

Besides this time of day being dicey when it comes to meals, it is also happens to be rush hour.  And with one of the major outlet roads near our neighborhood being closed it makes rush hour just oh so much more special.

A quick aside ... one of the worries of having the number of children outnumber the number of parents is the conspiracy factor.  If the children mobilize against us and cooperate to overthrow our little regime, could we stop them.  I see this as being the subject of many sleepless nights for me in the future.

We caught a glimpse of this cooperation on the drive home.  We were sitting in a seemingly endless line to make a left heading toward our neighborhood.  A chant began.  Actually not so much a chant, but what resembled to me a Native American war chant of some sort.  Have a listen...

So, it was now about 6:15, and we finally made it home.  My nerves were a little shot.  Our free shrimp dinner cost us about $20.  But, Julie and I learned another valuable lesson as it pertains to the children and I got a story to write about.

The shrimp was good.  The cupcake was fantastic.  There was some drama, some tears, some screams, some laughs and we were together, and that made it a pretty good day.