A date to IHOP

Each week my wonderful husband and I trade off taking one of our children out on a date. The kids really like this and so do we. Last week it was my oldest sons turn to go out with Dad. They went to Macey's and got a Kong Cone. That is what we did when it was my turn to take him out too. He just loves those Kong Cones. I am not sure if it is just the sheer challenge of eating so much ice cream in one sitting or the looks and comments he gets while carrying that mountain of ice cream around the store- but whatever it is he loves it. Those things are huge. I am guessing there is at least a quart of ice cream in those 7 swirls atop one giant cone. The drawback to the Kong Cone is that they won't dip them in chocolate. They say the ice cream will just fall off, I guess that may be true I have never tried it - but don't you think they could figure out a way, maybe they could just pour chocolate on the top. Dipped cones are so delicious.

Today was my turn to take our second son out. He choose to go to Ihop for breakfast. I was a bit surprised at his request but also excited. I love breakfast, actually I love every meal. But breakfast is the meal I am least likely to eat out - so going to a restaurant for breakfast is a special treat. The big drawback to "out for breakfast" is you have to get up really early. I set my alarm for 6:45, turns out I didn't really need to set it because I was so excited to go that I kept waking up and checking if it was time to get up yet, so I was wide awake and just laying there in bed waiting for my alarm to ring so I could get up and get ready. I opted for short "getting-ready" routine. I skipped the shower and pulled on the clothes I wore yesterday, went to the bathroom, tried to smear the smudges of yesterdays eye liner all the way across my eyes so it looked freshly applied. (didn't work- I just looked like I had black smudges under my eyes) and ran my fingers through my hair, which didn't help any. I then went to wake up my boy. He too was so excited that he just jumped out of bed - fully dressed, he had gotten dressed the night before so that he didn't have to "waste time" finding his clothes before we left. So all he had to do was slip on his shoes. He didn't even want to take the time to go to the bathroom. When I told him to, he just said "don't they have one there - I can wait"

As we got off on the exit we could see that the parking lot was full, he was a bit worried that they wouldn't have a table left. But as we pulled in we noticed that all the cars were on the other side of the lot, probably a park and ride spot or something. He was very relieved. The restaurant was empty we were the only ones there the whole time. The waitress asked me if I wanted a children's menu or an adults for him. I said one of each. Luckily he choose to order off the children's menu since the prices were about double what I expected. I guess it has been a long time since I have gone out for breakfast. Anyway he ordered french toast and bacon and I got Belgium waffles with strawberries and whipped cream. It was delicious. Very delicious. At home I would have opted for ice cream instead of whipped cream. Actually that is not true - I would have had both.

My son also ordered orange juice, his frugal mom got water. Water for breakfast is just wrong. But orange juice costs $3 a glass, so water it was. When the waitress asked him if he wanted juice I quickly tried to think of a way to get him to say no without it seeming like he wasn't allowed to have it. One rule on our dates is they get to order whatever they want. But $3 for a glass of juice is ridiculous. I could buy 3 cans of frozen Oj for about $3. I figured Ihop orange juice is about 12 times more expensive than grocery store orange juice. It sure didn't taste 12 times as good, in fact it wasn't that good at all. A little on the sour side and not at all cold. I like my juice with little ice crystals it it. This was like room temp with a couple ice cubes floating in it. But oh well, money is money and the privilege of going out with mom and drinking $3 lukewarm, sour orange juice is something that will hopefully make him feel special. And helping him feel special is what it is all about.