Foodies

On the ride back after picking up one of the grandkids -(italics are, of course, sub-vocal) :

"My Mommy is a vegetarian."

"Really?"

"I'm a vegetarian, too."

"That's nice"

"I'm hungry"

"Wanna stop at McDonalds?"

"I'm not allowed to eat at McDonalds. Mommy won't let me."

(oh, Christ ) "Well, what do you want to eat?"

"I want a hot dog."

(what the hell? do they even make vegetarian hot dogs? If they do I bet they suck)

"I don't think any of these places have hot dogs. How about a sandwich from Quiznos?"

(from my co pilot and lovely wife) "She won't find anything in there that she likes"

(Hey, I'd like you to be quiet )

"Mommy lets me eat at Wendy's"

(Jesus fucking Christ - that's where I was headed in the first place and really, what's the difference? I suppose the snack bar at Target was totally out of the question)

"Okey-dokey, Wendy's it is"

I've since discovered that, once she dispensed with the obligatory initial protestations, this kid will eat anything that remotely resembles food. Now, I've raised enough kids to know that I don't really know anything about anything and I won't presume to tell The Mom how to raise her kid but I can't remember making a big deal about diet with any of the kids and none of them turned out to be sickly fatties. Nothing wrong with moderating sugar and fat to a point but when you get right down to it a calorie is a calorie. And kids are kids. And the more you tell them they can't have it, the more they'll go looking for it.