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Monday, September 17, 2012

And then?

If I had a nickel for every time my kiddo said this, the national debt thing?  Yeah I could cover that for ya.  I'd insist on a nice statue of me somewhere.  Like a tacky fountain on the White House lawn would be cool.  Bo the dog could play in it.

Anyway, these two words are the reason Loreal Hair Color gets my money each month to cover the stress induced grays. There was a time the kiddo could not say these words or even had the concept of time and order of events down.  Which led of course to daily chaos that eventually inspired the infamous "Friday Night Mystery Cocktail" time.  Mama is a heck of a bartender. ;-)

Now though, we live our lives, all of us, to these words. If the kiddo had it his way, he would have every minute, every facet of his life planned out till the moment he took his last breath on earth.  I even have visions of him arriving at the pearly gates and being greeted by St. Peter. Welcomed to his entirety only to have him turn around, look at God and say "And then?" Yep almighty power, you better get a schedule up of what the kiddo will be doing for infinity. Or prepare to meet his wrath.

There is no such thing as flying by the seat of our pants.  Just seeing how a weekend will go.  From the moment he wakes till he gets tucked in for the night it's "and then?'.  I'm not gonna lie.   It's a bit of a drag.  It flipping sucks.  Yeah every now and then it's cool cause we do get done what needs to be done.  However in areas like say vacation, it blows!  Remember when Clark Griswold dragged his family through The Louvre in 20 minutes?  That's the kiddo on vacation.  We run through each scheduled activity/event/place simply for him to be able to turn to us and say "and then?"   For he has checked off an item on his list and he must get to the next one.   Meanwhile Mommy and Daddy are wondering if 4pm is to early to go eat dinner "and then" go to bed. 

Luckily for us, answering that we will order another side of fries is often a good answer to "And then?"


8 comments:

  1. What I loved most about this is I can completely hear your wit and tone when reading it. I don't have an "and then" kid, but I get "mommy, what are we going to do AFTER this" She worries about the and then before the and now is done. My hubby thinks she needs to be entertained 24/7, but I have to explain, she just needs to KNOW what is going on..she just wants to know what gear to shift her brain into, I think. Loved this one :)

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    1. The kiddo just wants to put a check mark for "done" on the list in his brain. I can totally get it. :-)

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  2. We used to be masters at "the list" -- never went out the door without it. Each stop, each errand, written down in the order it was to be performed, and woe to those who would alter that order! On major occasions such as plane rides, long trips, etc. I would make a "book" about what was going to happen -- the preparations, what he would pack, when we would go, how we would get there, and on and on and ON. I must have "authored" 30 to 40 books between the ages of 3 and 8.

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  3. And I find even if it's a well oiled routine. One we do often, we still got to go through the list of "and then?"s. which I'm not gonna lie, that annoys me to no end.

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  4. Have you ever seen the "And then?" scene in the immortal movie classic "Dude Where's My Car?"

    Check it out here... http://www.hulu.com/watch/15360

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  5. my son says "what are we going to do today" 500,000 times a day even at bed time lol

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