Macaroni and Cheese

Emma LOVES macaroni and cheese. Anytime we go somewhere to eat, if they have macaroni and cheese on the menu, that's what she orders. In my opinion, that's such a waste. Why would you order macaroni and cheese when you can get it at home? While we were in Colorado, she ordered Mac 'n cheese at one of the restaurants and she got a bowl of it for $5!! No kidding! It wasn't even the entire box! They are making huge profits on that kids' meal! I try not to have boxes of mac 'n cheese in the house at all times. If I do, that's what Emma wants to eat EVERY DAY! On Monday we had to get some groceries and Emma asked, before we even got to the store, if she could get some mac 'n cheese. I told her that she could if she behaved. I had to give her a couple of reminders (threats) while we were shopping that if she didn't cool it, she wasn't going to get what she wanted. It worked for a few minutes and then I would have to repeat the reminder (threat) again. We finally got to the checkout and she started acting up again. I warned (threatened) her that it wasn't too late to put the boxes back on the shelf. She straightened right up. Well, until they were paid for and in the bags, that is. I had to stop at the bank branch which is right inside the grocery store and she was carrying on like a crazy child. Gage could see that I was getting really upset, and he stopped his craziness and apologized for acting up. By the time we got to the car Emma was in big trouble. I told her that she was NOT going to get mac 'n cheese for lunch. She was very upset by this and started to cry. I did not make mac 'n cheese for lunch on Monday.

Tuesday rolls around, and again, I am using the mac 'n cheese as a reward for good behavior. Again, we do not have macaroni and cheese for lunch.

Wednesday arrives. We go to swimming lessons and while we are in the family locker room after their lessons, Emma and Gage start getting crazy again, getting on my last nerve. I told them if they didn't straighten up, there would not be any mac 'n cheese again today. We were out of milk, so we had to run by the store before going home, so in case they behaved, I would need the milk to make lunch. When we get to the store, Gage says he wants to stay in the car. I rolled the windows down a ways and locked the doors while Emma and I ran quickly into the store, got a gallon of milk and then went back out to the car. I asked Gage if he was just tired, or what, as to why he wanted to stay in the car. He said, "I wanted to have macaroni and cheese for lunch." I reply, "Gage, you mean you couldn't behave for just the short amount of time that we were going to be in the store?" Gage says, "Mom, I just didn't want to take any chances!" LOL! Needless to say, I couldn't not make macaroni and cheese for lunch yesterday. It worked for good behavior again today. I have 2 more boxes in the pantry, so I can be guaranteed at least 2 more days of good behavior before we need to buy more.

These olympics are so exhausting! You'd think I was competing in them with as tired as I am! If I didn't have to stay up until 2 am each night to get the olympics watched, and my blog entry posted, I would be in much better shape. (The Wii might have a little to do with the exhaustion?!?) Today I did some aerobics on the Wii Fit and one of the aerobic exercises is the hula hoop. I'm much better at virtual hula hooping than I am the real thing. Gage and Emma were getting really ticked at it because they are better at the real deal. It's quite hilarious to watch them do it.

Oh, I almost forgot. I am going to have to watch my posts in the future. Today, at lunch time, Gage comes upstairs for his macaroni and cheese lunch (I did serve some healthy things as well) and tells me, "Mom, you are a good blog writer!" I looked at him and said, "What?" He told me that he was downstairs on the computer reading my blog. LOL! He has apparently figured out I have it bookmarked and he is now a faithful reader of my blog. I asked him if he wanted to start his own and he looks at me in surprise and says, "You mean I can do that? You'll have to get me my own digital camera Mom!" LOL! I assured him that he could use the pictures I have on my camera. So, who knows, you might have to bookmark another blog in the near future! :-)