On Mondays, I have the privilege of picking the grandson up from school as I am off work. His other grandparents pick him up Tuesday through Friday as they are retired, and I'm poor and at work. It's always fun picking him up, seeing him walk out of the school building. I ask him a lot of questions. How was your day at school? Were all your classmates there? What did you do that was fun? What was for lunch? Did you eat it, etc..
Today when I picked him up, mommy told me he didn't eat much lunch and would probably be hungry. So I asked him the questions about his day and what he did or didn't eat. I asked him if he wanted to go to Dairy Queen and get a burger or something and ice cream. "No. I just want candy." Buddy, I'm not giving you candy on an empty stomach. I'll buy you a meal and then I'll buy you candy. "I just want candy." Buddy, the sugar in candy will only give you a short burst of energy and then you'll be worse off than before. Your body needs protein and other energy sources. "I just want candy." What did you do with that piece of candy you had in your hand when I picked you up? "I ate it." Okay, so if you don't want to go to DQ, how about Taco Bell? "No." Well, we will go right by Jose's (Jose Jalapeno's- the boy loves mexican) how about stopping there for a taco or quesadilla? "No. I can eat something at home."
Sometimes he gets to stop at a Break Time near Jose's and get candy. He doesn't call it BT, he calls it the candy store. He has never asked me to stop at the candy store, until today. I said, buddy, I'll stop and buy you some candy but you have to eat something else first. I bet they have hot dogs and pizza and stuff. "No. They don't have regular food." We'll see what they have when we stop.
We stop and he lights up. I asked if they knew him in the store. "Yes. I've been here a million times." In we go. Straight to the candy he goes. He looks and looks but can't decide. Let's go over here and see what else they have. He grudgingly follows. Look! They have hamburgers and cheeseburgers and hot dogs. How about a cheeseburger or hot dog? "No." How about some beef jerky, this looks pretty good. "No." Back to the candy aisle he goes. I said buddy, I'm not giving you candy on an empty stomach. He spent about 15 minutes looking at candy without picking anything. He had told me earlier that he could eat salami at home. I said you have candy at home too.
Let's go buddy. I'll buy you jerky, or a hamburger, or a hot dog, and candy, but not just candy. So, I lead him out of the store. I think he's in shock that we're leaving without anything. As we step out the door he grabs my arm and squeezes. What are you doing buddy? "I'm breaking your arm." Okay. I lead him to the truck and open the door, but he won't get in. I picked him up and put him in his seat. He wouldn't cooperate to put the belt on, and kept turning his head away from me. He had tears in his eyes and his jaws were clenched, but he wasn't crying. I thought to myself, my dad would have tuned me up if I acted like that, but hey, he's learning about grandpop. I said buddy, next time you want me to stop, you'll know what you want.
As we drove away, I repeated all my offers to go buy food at the other places and then candy. "Nope." It was a quiet ride the rest of the way home. I couldn't help but be a little proud of his stubbornness. On the other hand, I felt bad because he was hungry but wouldn't let me get him anything other than sugar.
When we got to his house and grandma came to the door to meet him, he finally let loose and cried a bit. I told grandma he was mad at me, and explained why. If you would have asked him at that moment what my name was I'm pretty sure he would have chosen the latter! An hour later I texted grandma to ask if he was over the trauma. She said he was fine, and he had eaten. Grandpoop out!
Follow up -
So the next time I picked him up, he had eaten his lunch. I had popcorn and "hot chips" (cheddar jalapeno Cheetos) and a bottle of water for him. He started eating popcorn as he was telling me about his day. As we approached the "candy store" I asked him if we needed to stop. He said, "Yes!" He also said, "I know what I want." In we go. Straight to the candy we went. He immediately pointed up to what he wanted. I got it down for him and told him to take it to the counter so the lady could ring it up. She was very nice to him. I paid and out we went. I said, "That was fast!" He pointed to his head and told me he had already thought about what he wanted. The boy learns fast!
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