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Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Why I'll be eating dinner at McDonald's tonight.

Last Tuesday a note came home in Peter's agenda. It said "Don't Forget! Thursday night is Chick-Fil-A Night!"

That's nice, I thought to myself.

I asked Peter about his day and all he could tell me was that the Chick-Fil-A cow had been in the cafeteria at lunch shaking hands and giving out high fives.

That's nice, I thought to myself.

"So can we go?" Peter asked.

"Go where?" I asked.

"To Chick-fil-A night. Can we? Can we?" Peter begged.

"I don't think so, honey," was my reply and I didn't think another thing about Chick-fil-A night. Until Wednesday.

Because on Wednesday after school, Peter mentioned Chick-fil-A night again. And I dismissed it just as I had done the day before.

But on Thursday when he got off the bus, I knew I was in trouble. Big trouble.

Because he had a large Chick-fil-A sticker on his shirt reminding us that tonight was Chick-fil-A night.

The first words out of his mouth when he got off the bus were, "Are we going to Chick-fil-A tonight for dinner. Because tonight is Chick-fil-A night."

When I told him no, he immediately started to cry. When we got home from the bus stop he curled up on the floor in front of the fire place in the fetal position and continued to cry.

I let him cry for a few minutes assuming it was just another tantrum but when he continued to cry I realized he was really upset.

When I consoled him he told me I hurt his feelings by saying we couldn't go to Chick-fil-A and then he wanted to know why we couldn't go.

So I apologized for hurting his feelings (It seems whenever I tell Peter he can't do something I'm "hurting his feelings".) and then I listed all the reasons we couldn't go.

"It's hard to go to Chick-fil-A on a school night honey. It's almost 20 minutes a way. I never know what time Daddy is going to get home from work. I've already bought the food that we are going to have for dinner. (It was leftovers actually but I didn't think that was the right moment to tell him we were having leftovers for dinner.) We just went to Chick-fil-A last weekend. It's a school night so you have to have a bath before bed and it's just hard to do this sort of thing on a school night."

He calmed down and then I told him I didn't realize it was so important to him that we go to Chick-fil-A. Meanwhile, in my head, I am cursing the school for hyping this up so much to the kids.

And then I told him that the next time there was a fundraiser night we would go. Because I was thinking to myself surely it will be a couple more months before there is another fundraiser night at a restaurant. And surely he would forget about it by then.

I'm so sly, I thought, as Peter bounded up from the floor and went happily on with his after school business.

And then, the very next day, the first thing out of Peter's mouth when he got off the bus was, "Mom, we are having another fundraiser night on Tuesday. This time it's at McDonald's! Can we go? You promised we would go!"

Looks like I'm not so sly after all because tonight we'll be eating dinner at McDonald's.

And just in case you are wondering how many times I can type Chick-fil-A in one post, the answer is 13. 14 if you count the fact that I just typed it again while writing this post script.


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23 comments:

Alicia The Snowflake said...

That is too funny! Kids never forget when we want them to forget. It's only the things we don't want them to remember that they remember. Have fun @ McDonald's tonight :o)

RR Mama said...

I love it when kids don't forget the stuff you would like to forget. Mine are constantly reminding me of something. Have fun at McD's!

Kimberly said...

We often have "fundraiser" nights at various restaurants for my school. We get anywhere from 10-20% of the profits made during the 3 hours we are there. We earned about $400 from a local wings place, so it does help the schools, if you are able to participate. And yes, my school also sends home the stickers, but stickers do not "hype" up 5th graders, like they do Kindergarteners.

Enjoy your Mickey D's!!

Tracy said...

HAAA! That will be our house tonight...it's Cici's night for Caden's school and I HATE Cici's!! Maybe he'll forget....RIGHTTTTT!

He & Me + 3 said...

Bummer..I totally choose Chic fila over McDonalds any day..We don't have Chic fila around us:( Have fun though...Gotta love those school fundraisers.

Heather said...

Why can't the school's do a fund raiser at somewhere you have to go?...like Walmart:o)
Enjoy your dinner!

Robin hill farm said...

Oh boy! Have fun!! :)

Denise said...

Woo Hoo, have fun.

Jaina said...

Get a McFlurry for me!

Evden said...

McDonalds night is my favorite fundraiser. It is the only one we do.

Pam said...

This all makes me laugh, especially knowing how much you LOVE Chick-Fil-A!

Zaankali said...

I would be ticked with school for that one. Here we are trying to teach our kids to eat healthy and then they choose "fast food fundraisers?" I think I wold be having some words with the school. That is about as bad as putting candy in the check out lanes.
I will step off my soapbox now.
Smiles!

Jessica Ryan said...

I am in 100% in agreement with Jennifer. A school promoting junk food is not doing it's job. Surely there are other restuarants, not terribly expensive, to have fundraisers such as this...

It is such a struggle to get my kids to make healthy choices. And with our country's weight problems at epidemic proportions schools should be encouraging healthy choices.

I am in no way shape or form saying my kids never eat fast food, but I seriously try to keep it limited. Maybe a handful of times in a year which would include stopping off at BK on 1-95 in Maine to break up our very long trip.

Carol said...

Oh bless him!!

But curse his school for putting you in that situation. That is very naughty indeed.

Debbie said...

Wow. That is not the kind of fundraiser I want either. Bless your heart.

Grandma T said...

Well, at least McDonald's has good coffee!

Wendy said...

I can't believe they're doing two so close either. I had heard about the Chick-fil-A one last week and then saw it on McDonald's sign today. Maybe you can get the Southern Style Chicken Sandwich and imagine it's as good as Chick-fil-A's!

Joanne@ Blessed... said...

Cute post Beth! Would you believe that I have yet to eat at Chick Fil A? Just saw our first one out here in California a few months ago.

Thanks so much for your comments on my post on leaving a legacy. I appreciate it so much.

jennwa said...

What a good Mom you are. You always make me look so bad. Enjoy your Big and Tasty.

Badness Jones said...

Gah! What is with schools and their fundraisers?! I would WAY rather just write a cheque for 100 bucks at the beginning of the school year and have them leave it at that. But the girlie would be so disappointed....I'd be eating at McDonalds too.

Anonymous said...

I miss going to Chick-Fil-A. When we lived in NC we used to go all the time. There are very few up here in MA. Mickey D's is always clutch!

Kim said...

Funny story. Hope you enjoyed your Mickey Ds!

Kids never forget anything.

Tina said...

Wow...they really hyped it up, huh? Crazy!

Peter is a great little guy...it's awesome that you were able to explain it to him so well!