Negotiating and Eating Out

Genevieve slept in bed with us for most of last night - she's really savvy at getting as much mileage out of a cold as possible.  As she stretched and thought about waking up this morning she said, "I'm feeling so sick still, so I won't be able to be on any hard surfaces.  Like the chair at the table, or the chair at the desk, or the stool at the counter - I'm just too sick."  This was just the beginning of her convincing argument that scored her a major rule bending breakfast on the couch:

By mid day, going to the Edison Cafe with our crew seemed like the path of least resistance for feeding everyone lunch.  And I am a big fan of the path of least resistance.  Except I so easily forget that eating out with toddlers is akin to taking a crew of chimpanzees into a confined and crowded space and expecting good behavior.  Impossible. 

And take note of my salad sitting at the next table over.  In this picture, I really wanted to be eating that salad.  In reality, having a chance of realizing my desire was one in a million.  And yes, that is a high chair you see in this picture, and no, Marguerite would not sit in it:

Staying true to my path of least resistance, I let Genevieve order the "Mickey" off of the kids menu.  "Pancakes for lunch," I thought to myself, "that's not so bad."  And then her order was placed in front of her.  Three giant pancakes piled high with whipped cream, butter and hershey's kisses.  These toppings were NOT mentioned on the menu, for the record:

So my eldest chimp proceeded to eat whipped cream, butter, and hershey's kisses for lunch - and not a single bite of pancake.