It was a perfect day for the park.
The kids were swinging, climbing on the fort thingy {that we paid way too much for with our neighborhood association dues-hello. where’s my pool.} and the weather was nice.
I’m not really sure what’s going on with Aiden’s face. I think he got tired of waiting on me to take the picture…
But in short, it was all fun and games until Emmy decided it was time to pee her pants.
This is Emerson in 80 years. Wait. This is her now. But that’s another topic.
So I promptly put her in a pull up I had, and back to the car we headed. On the way there, Aiden asked if they could have Mickey-Dees. That sounded like a nice option to this lazy tired mama, so rather than going home with my now-bottomless 3 year old, we headed for the drive thru. After waiting in line for what felt like a small eternity, I ordered three happy meals. When we got home, I opened the bags to start preparing everything for the kids.
Only there were no chicken nuggets. Normally, it wouldn’t be a huge deal if they forgot one. It happens occasionally, as obnoxious as it is. The end. Certainly not worth my effort in the complaints department. But there were none. In any of the three bags. I usually check. This time I didn’t. My bad. So yours truly had to gather all three exasperated children, pack them in the car again, and head back to McDonalds. Some of you know how long it takes to pack three children into a car. That feat alone warrants some type of fabo momsie award.
Yay.
I made a simple explanation that they forgot our nuggets, and the offspring mumbled a disgruntled chorus of general discontentment on our way out the door.
{side tangent: the word ‘nugget’ is just funny sans chicken.}
Aiden: {not sure where he got this one + he was clearly amused with himself} “I’m gonna give them a knuckle sandwich for forgetting my chicken fingers!” {followed by hysterical laughter from all three kids…I don’t think they even know what ‘knuckle sandwich’ means}
Me: {suppressing laughter} “Aiden. That’s not nice to say. It was an accident”
But this was quite mild considering what happened next.
We finally pulled up to the drivethru speaker again, and I kindly explained to the speaker person {who I can never understand above running cars anyway} what happened with our nuggets. With receipt in hand, I was ready to prove myself, if they had any questions. Who really lies about that kind of stuff? I don’t really want to know. At the window, the worker opened it and simply stared at us, confused. There was a moment where she pretended to fiddle with her microphone but she just stood there, for what felt like eons, saying nothing. Um, awkward.
That’s when I heard the most petrifying noise coming from right behind my seat.
Emerson: “Hey LADY!” my daughter decided she would command said adult’s attention.
what?! who is this child?
Me: “Oh my word. Excuse my daughter”
Worker: now looking slightly confused
Emerson: growing louder “I SAID, HEY. LADY!”
Worker lady, now very un-humored, glared past my seat to a determined Emerson, who made it quite clear that she wanted to make her point, three years old, or not. I wanted to freeze time, take my child aside, and ask her when she decided she was a sixteen year old from the Bronx. I wanted to ask her who she thought she was talking to. I wanted to pinch the crap out of her leg, to get her to shut it.
But I couldn’t reach her leg.
Me: “Emerson. That is not nice. We don’t say that.” was all I could muster, in my best disciplinarian a-la Bree from Desperate Housewives voice, as I prayed for her to stop. She would receive a lecture on the proper way to address an adult later, but for now, it was all I could do as I tried to suppress my mortified giggles. I sat paralyzed with embarrassment, as I waited for our nuggets to arrive.
Emerson: Feeling quite safe, big and bold from behind my seat, and looking straight at the window attendant: “GRRRRRRRRRRR”
Yep. that’s right. She growled at a McDonald’s employee.
As if that showed the worker, who I’m quite sure was NOT solely responsible for leaving out my three year old’s chicken fingers. Coincidentally, said window worker lady person was not humored by the little customer’s attitude.
I didn’t have a chance for a response, or for some rebuttal spittles into our nuggets, as almost upon immediate, audible ‘growl,’ our goods were given to us, per someone behind window lady, and I hightailed it away from the drive thru.
Mickey Dee’s didn’t offer so much as an apology. Or compensation for completely leaving out the majority of our meals. Meh. You get what you pay for, and I was too embarrassed to care. In retrospect, I should have capitalized on the moment, and gotten little diva to demand free ice cream scoops, as well.
Don’t ever come between a girl, and her food.
Kara says
Oh my goodness…thanks for sharing this! So funny!!
Jennifer says
Don’t you love how kids embarrass their parents? And in the loudest voices possible? But hello…hungry equals cranky! There was a drive thru that my husband and I went to eons ago and they NEVER got my order right. His was always fine, mine was always wrong. I can relate!
Tonya says
Love the story! Oh, and, can I borrow her next time I visit the drivethru of our local taco bell? They NEVER get it right =}
ashley @ the handmade home says
HAHAHA I know! I was mortified. đ
Allison says
I love this story! I needed this chuckle this morning.
Marissa says
Loved your side tangent about the word nuggets. It made me think of my 5-year-old who still calls nuggets, “Chicken Nuts.” He insists that this is what they are called and consisdering the shape of them, it makes me laugh every single time.
Amy says
Tee hee!!!! thanks for the chuckle! Oh, and my three year old son would have done the EXACT same thing!!!!!! Hey Lady, grrrrr…. that’s him too! đ Tee hee hee….. still chuckling!
Sheri says
OH my heck! I just found your site today from moneysavingmom and I laughed right out loud at this. I didn’t even try to hide my laughter. Co-workers can just wonder but it was seriously funny. Thanks for the laugh.
Jennifer Early says
Oh my! Love that Emerson!
Dorothy says
One of our kids had so many ear infections when she was little that she didn’t learn to speak correctly for years. Supposedly, everyone but family and some close friends had trouble making out her words. Well, we were in a store trying to look at wallpaper and her attention was wandering. She spied a customer she didn’t care for, and all of a sudden our little “speech impaired” darling was piping up in that high-pitched, audible to everyone within 500 miles little kid voice: “Dat wady weawwwy UG-Y!” OMG, OMG, and we weren’t in a car to make a quick getaway. I still cringe thinking about it. Yep, all of us with kids have been there, done that! xo
Kariane Noble says
that was hilarious! Hilarious! Only when you’re a kid do you have the freedom to say what you really want to, but socially can’t! Love it.
HeeHee! says
How funny! My daughter is in a growling stage for some reason, but she typically reserves it for her older brother. LOL
Also, I hope you don’t mind if I comment on your daughter’s car seat. It is much safer if you move the chest clip up so that it is actually on her chest. Britax is a fantastic seat, but it does it job much better if the straps aren’t off the shoulder and are in proper position. Not ripping on you! Just trying to keep your little cutie safer. đ
Val says
Oh my goodness. I love that you stopped to take a picture for your blog. As if I wasn’t already laughing hard enough. Reminds me of the time when I was 8 months along with my youngest, and after an 8 hour day at the museum Mickey Dees gave me a chicken sandwich with brown lettuce and a green tomato, which I didn’t discover until we got home. After I was done with the manager on the phone, they actually delivered a whole new meal to my house. Yep, I got them to deliver. I think I want that on my tombstone.