Amazing

I brought Caleb to tears today over Amazing Chicken. Ya see, it was lunch time and Caleb had been talking about a turkey sandwich with mayonnaise for the better part of an hour. So when serving time came, I didn’t think twice about Caleb’s order…he was adamant that he didn’t want anything else—just a turkey sandwich. No cheese. Uncut. Turkey and mayo.

After serving the kids lunch and putting Owen to bed, I heated up Sesame Inn’s specialty—Amazing Chicken. It is, as its name suggests, pretty good. I had been thinking about this re-heat since I placed the leftovers in the fridge Thursday night. Caleb was content with his blanket—and tags—on the rocker watching The Incredibles when I parked on the couch with my Chinese dish. Over the next several minutes, I ate lunch without even a passing glance from Cal. As soon as I threw the last grain of rice down my hatch, Caleb hopped over.

“What are you eating?”

“Amazing chicken.”

“Can I have some?”

“Oh, I’m sorry Caleb, I just finished it.”

“But mama said there was a lot.” (There was.)

“No there wasn’t that much.”

“Well, can I have some rice?”

“No there was hardly any rice.” (There really wasn’t.)

Tears. Legitimate water works. Pure, unadulterated crying. He went big. Through sup-sups, he managed to tell me that he was so hungry and all that he wanted was some amazing chicken. That, in itself, was an amazing revelation.

I will give my kids a lot: time, love, attention. But I will not give them my amazing chicken.
The whole issue eventually blew over when I faked a stomach ache and told him that the amazing chicken wasn’t so good (it was very good) and was probably sitting in the fridge too long (please, I’ve eaten things older than Caleb).

He settled for pudding.