It's All About The Cookie

We had an abbreviated set of college tours this past weekend. The General and I drove down south with the intention of looking at three schools. In between, we had plans to see my college friends, our family friends and her camp friends.

There were lots of positives:

• She loved the big state school.
• She enjoyed the car ride more than she would have (her words) because we drove one of her local camp friends down with us.
• She got to stay overnight at her camp friend’s house.
• I got to visit some great college friends spur of the moment.
• The hotel we stayed in was in a beautiful area (the last hotel we stayed in required we park in an abandoned lot next to a 24-hour car wash that I’m pretty sure wasn’t washing cars 24 hours a day).
• We had a terrific dinner with family friends the next day.

There were a few negatives:

• The camp friend’s parent who we drove down south tried to weasel me into driving her home.
• She didn’t like the city school.
• We had to cancel our visit to the third school, plus our dinner with my other college friends, due to an impending snowstorm.
• She didn’t get to see her camp friend who was going to tour the third school with us.

But by far, the BEST thing that happened, as far as I’m concerned, is that she ate an Oreo.

Now, this is the child who hates Oreos, unless they’re fried. But we were at dinner with family friends and they have two children, a nine-year-old and a four-year-old. She was sitting next to the four-year-old, who had a backpack filled with activities to keep him entertained during dinner. It also had snacks, because, well, he’s four, and on parent in their right mind goes anywhere without snacks for their four-year-old! As the General and the Four-Year-Old were talking and playing with stuff, he pulled out a package of his Oreos and gave her one. She thanked him and ate it, despite the fact that she hates Oreos.

Because, as she said to me (and to his mom who tried to tell her it wasn’t necessary), you don’t say no to a four-year-old when they offer you something.