Delicious Distractions

So the other day the Mother of the Gremlin was heading out to get dinner - she usually does a homemade meal almost every night, and rarely takes a night off. So when she asked to take a night off, both the Gremlin and I were okay with it. We began the ice-cold schlep over to foodie row (McDonald's, Subway, four middle eastern places (two Lebanese, one Iraqi, one Egyptian) a Starbucks, and Dunkin' Donuts, two pizza places, and brand-new hot dog store. All within two blocks of each other.

Once we stopped at the bank, we had to again pass by the Dunkin' Donuts. The Gremlin, having already figured out that 1) donuts are delicious and 2) you have to have money to get one (he's currently saving his regular holiday money from grandma for Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway - Rocky), saw that we had just gone to the bank.

We have been trying to get the Gremlin used to walking with us and not being carried, and he's always been extremely good about walking with us, not crossing streets without us, etc... But when the guy walking in front of us stepped into Dunkin' Donuts, the Gremlin darted in after him. The man was so amused that he held the inner door open as well, and the Gremlin was off to the races.

He ducked in and out of the maze of tables, glanced at the twin 5-person deep lines, and stepped right in front of everyone. The Latino man, short but sturdy and looking like a craftsman or construction worker by trade (read: tough), that the Gremlin had just brushed aside began to chuckle as the employee looked confused between the two.

The Gremlin was undaunted. "I would like one chocolate donut please!" The Dunkin Donuts worker just stood there staring at him, so the Gremlin made an addendum. "Oh, and a coffee for momma. Thanks!"

We finally caught up with him at that point and tried to pull him to the back of the line, but all 5 men the Gremlin cut off were chuckling and telling us it was okay. So the employee rang it up as the Gremlin looked at his mother. "Okay momma, you can pay for it now."

He's gonna be fun in high school. Especially when he learns about credit cards.