The Order

It’s not like my children don’t tell me to what to do all the time,
but I can’t say I always listen. As parents we are constantly ordered
around whether we choose to acknowledge it or not. My 3-year-old has
taken to giving me her breakfast order the night before just to make
sure I get it right. More likely she just wants to get me back in her
room at bedtime and needs something to say to me. Mind you, my
daughter wants the same thing pretty much every morning, so it’s not
like she needs to tell me. All kids, at least the ones I know, eat
dinner, have dessert (maybe) and then suddenly one hour later are
hungry again. This drives me crazy because I always say at dinner when
my children are ready to bolt from the table with unfinished plates,
“eat so you are not starving one hour from now.” You know you are all
doing the same thing! I hate not giving them more to eat and at the
same time I hate feeling like a short order cook at a diner. I feel
like at some point the kitchen has to close. Usually I am able to
change the subject away from snacks but sure enough right before bed I
get the call in the distance “MA”. I go to the bedroom after I am all
settled on the couch searching for something on the DVR, “what is it?”
I ask. “I’m hungry,” says my little one. I tell her “it’s bedtime,
the kitchen is closed.” Then, of course, there is the order, “okay
mama, in the morning, I want a waffle, on a Sponge Bob plate, with a
big girl fork”. “Okay, my love.” Order taken.