I am addicted to Starbucks. There, I’ve said it. Not only am I addicted to Starbucks, but I’m addicted to iced sugar-free vanilla skim-milk lattes the size of your head. That cost nearly four dollars. Just typing it out makes me sick.
Needless to say, this admission flies in the face of my commitment to becoming debt-free. Sure, we budget a certain amount each week to just blow, but a $4-a-day addiction is just ridiculous. I mean, sure, it’s not as bad as smoking or something, but still not very healthy for me (or my breastfed baby).
So putting it out here is my way of saying enough is enough. I’m going back to enjoying them only when we happen to be in the vicinity of a coffeehouse, not when we drive 10 miles out of our way to get to a coffeehouse.
Thanks for listening.
Anyway, on to another topic: I bet that not many parents can pinpoint the actual day that their children said the word “Ewww!” for the first time, but I can. Last Thursday, we were eating my delicious dinner of black bean chili mac when Auggie pointed at my plate and said, ‘Ewww!’ (Due to his bean boycott, he was enjoying his noodles with parmesan cheese only.) Tim and I both chuckled (the worst possible thing to do in these situations, but completely unavoidable, alas) and I said, ‘Where did you hear that? School?’
School gets blamed for everything these days — mostly good things, but the occasional bad thing, too. Like when Auggie got frustrated at some papers last Sunday and started calling them “stupid.” It was actually quite Chris Farley-like and I had to laugh as he repeated, “stupid, stupid, stupid” in this really funny, gruff voice.
This is all part of my “fear of outside influences on the three-year-old” stage that I’m currently enduring. It takes my breath away sometimes to think about the older kids at his school and what they might be teaching Auggie. He’s such a little sponge these days: repeating things we say, doing things he sees us do, insisting on doing things himself, etc. A bossy little sponge to be sure (you should hear this guy in the car) and yes, it was going to happen sooner or later, but the guilt! The paralyzing guilt that I’m not there to shield him from the sometimes-cruel outside world! Of course, most of the time, I just stretch out and enjoy my few minutes of focusing on something non-Little People-related.
By the way, I just have to say thanks to Meg, who sent me a copy of Mimi Smartypants’ book. Autographed, no less! Talk about just the cheering up I needed after watching the Cardinals roll over and die in the World Series… Thanks a ton! Kim, you have the coolest little sister in the world!