Wasting Food

Everyone knows how much I love Chick-Fil-A. It’s the perfect place for mom and kids. I love kid’s night. Usually they have a pretty decent event for the kids, plus kids eat free. Then the kids disappear into a place almost like heaven, the sound proof play area, and I get to enjoy my meal in peace with a friend. So, this particular night, we went for kid’s night, it was like any other night. The kid’s ate free and I got to enjoy my meal catching up with a friend. The kids get a free ice cream in a cup with their kid’s meal. Sometimes they get lucky and convince the worker to give them their ice cream on a cone. This particular night they were not successful.

This is how our conversation went:

Me: “Jenna, please don’t use your fingers to eat your ice cream. Use your spoon.”

Jenna: “I don’t want to use my spoon.”

Me: “If you don’t use your spoon, I am going to take your ice cream away, and throw it in the trash can.”

Jenna continues to eat her ice cream with a spoon for a little while and then goes back to her fingers again. I had to take her ice cream away, right? She begged me not to throw it in the trash. I told her that she did not listen to me, so I was going to have to throw it in the trash. My friend is looking at me and giving me this look like I have to follow through with what I said. I go over to the trash can and threw her ice cream in the trash. Jenna starts screaming and crying.

Jenna: ”You are the worst Mom ever! I’m going to tell Daddy on you!”

Me: “What are you going to tell him? That I threw your ice cream in the trash because you were using your fingers instead of a spoon?”

Jenna: “No! I’m telling on you. I’m telling Daddy that you wasted food! You are going to be in big trouble! You are the worst Mom ever!”

Jenna totally had me pegged. She knows how much I HATE to waste anything including food. It was so hard for me to throw her ice cream in the trash. That’s the good thing about being married to a human garbage disposal. Nothing gets wasted. Rick will eat anything. So, I sucked it up and wasted the ice cream, since I had to follow through. I guess the good thing was that I didn’t have to pay for the ice cream since the kids eat free. You know, even though it was free, I still had this awful feeling in my stomach and I really did not want to waste the food. I wonder if my neurosis about not wasting anything is going to scar my kids for life?