Piece of Cake

I am feeling all grumbly and out of sorts today. I hate my bad moods. I hate that I can't just *Poof!* make them disappear.

And when I am grumbly and hateful? Everything annoys me. The worst part, hands down, is that I don't know WHY I'm feeling this way. It isn't like the kids did anything to prompt it. R either. And I wasn't in a bad mood when I woke up this morning.

Oh.

Wait.

I know what it is.


S is having a 'stubborn' day. Part of a stubborn day with S involves an automatic, vehement resistance to anything I ask her to do. These days, I'm used to it (enough) that I can just keep going. But there are certain deal breakers. Not washing your hands is one of them. I was fixing lunch for the kids and I asked them to wash their hands. This led to a showdown between S and I that ended up with me YELLING at her to go to her room. So, up she stomped, sobbing and rage-y. And then we got to listen to her scream for 10 minutes. Fun.

She finally comes down and apologizes, but her heart is so obviously not in it. We take T to camp, where S is indignant and hateful that she doesn't get to stay. T, however, is filled with happiness and glee. While I'm glad that he's having such a great experience, his glee is making her attitude worse by the second. On our way home, I see a store front with a big slice of cake and the title "A Piece of Cake" on the marquee and I think...yes! What this situation needs....is cake. And yes, I'm aware that food should not be used to soothe my (or S's) emotional dissatisfaction, but sometimes a girl just needs a damn cupcake. Today was that day for me. So we park, I let S put the quarter in the meter, we walk across the street and.....the door is locked.

Sigh.

I start to walk S back to the car. She protests loudly and determinedly. Is determinedly even a word? I'm too tired to look it up. She wants to go in the next shop which looks like a little sandwich shop. It does not look like a cake store. I point this out. She does not care. So I ask her if she would like to go in and SEE that there is no cake. Of course she does. In we go.

"See?" I say. "They don't have cupcakes here."

And they didn't.

"Oh!" replies the kid behind the counter, "but we have muffins, and some pastries (a la Sarah Lee), and some free cookies right there." He points to the counter.

Thanks a lot, kid.

S wants a cookie.

I just can't bring myself to take a free cookie from this very new business without ordering something, so I pick up the menu. They have a kids' section - grilled cheese, pb&j and one other item that didn't hit my radar are only 99 cents. So I ask S what kind of sandwich she wants - pb&j. And then I see the lady in the kitchen making a salad. I haven't eaten lunch yet, and that salad looks great. So I order a house salad with ham. Our total bill? $3.21. It was a very generous portion of food for so little money. I let S choose a cookie, we took our food and home we went.

The rest of the day was a series of tantrums and crying and yelling from both kids, actually, and T's gymnastics class did not go well (but I don't have the energy to relay that story today). R took the kids home while I stayed to get in a quick cardio workout before Zumba. And after that? I was way too tired to care about tantrums or rage or my parental failings and I went to bed.

Piece of cake, indeed.