on peanut butter sandwiches and milkshakes

This week has been a week of earlier than the already horribly early risings of the sweet little Quinn due to the "falling back" rule.  And a week of holy crap it's only 5:30 pm and it feels like 10.  These time changes are evil, you know?

Thankfully I have several friends with children who have confirmed that indeed this week has been painful for them as well. 

As the parents, we groan and yawn and deal with the ramifications of such an insane rule that surely was meant only to disrupt our neat and tidy routine.  The children, however, are expectedly not as well equipped to cope with this change, since they have no clue it has even occurred.  (Read:  Quinn is crabby as hell and complaining all during her waking hours).

Yesterday at lunchtime, after short discussion, the children and I elected to have peanut butter sandwiches.  I can't clearly recall the exact event that preceeded her whine-fest, but anyway there was a whine-fest while I was trying to prepare lunch. 

So I pulled out the ol' not-so-reliable shock statement used by parents to elicit a child's appreciation for food. 

Me:  "You know Quinn, I have something to tell you."

Quinn:  "What Mommy?"

Me:  "There are little children whose parents do not have enough money to buy peanut butter.  Those little children have never even TASTED peanut butter!"

Quinn:  *look of sheer horror*, followed by a tearful "WHY???"  (yes, real tears over such an atrocity.)

Me:  *satisfied to have evoked an emotional response*  "Because, not everyone is as lucky as you are, Quinn.  We should always remember how lucky we are to have nice things like peanut butter."

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Tonight Casey tells me a story.  When he picked up Quinn from preschool this afternoon, he brought a milkshake for them to share as a special treat.  (Which by the way she took 1 SECOND to spot when they got into the vehicle).  Back and forth they took turns sipping, with Quinn drinking most of the shake.  Casey drank the last sip. 

Quinn:  (howling with drama)  "DADDY!  You drank ALL of MY milkshake!!!"

Casey:  "Honey, it was our milkshake to share.  There was one tiny sip left and I just finished it.  You got plenty of milkshake."

Quinn:  "Daddy, that is NOT how you are supposed to treat your children."

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Wow, seriously?  Back to square one.  This lesson might take a few rounds to sink in.