You Can’t Always Get What You Want

And it’s true, we can’t – and usually don’t – always get what we want, but sometimes this sad fact of reality is just so utterly heartbreaking when it comes to little kids and things they really, really want.

This morning, I came face to face with one of those sad-face parenting situations where part of you is like Oh, I’m sorry, I know it sucks but it is what it is, but the other part of you is like Screw it, you’re the most awesome kid ever and I’m totally giving you whatever you desire. And even though this wasn’t my first I-Want rodeo, I’ve come to believe that the decision process for that particular epic struggle just never gets any easier.

Since Monday was a holiday for everyone except the general private sector working world, Husband rescheduled his appointments to watch Mittens for the day thanks to daycare’s closure. His brilliant activity for the post-nap portion of the day: the local zoo. And to Husband’s credit, Mitzi apparently LOVED the whole experience. She’s been talking about the following for the last few days: the owls, the monkeys, the pigs, the anteater who sniffed the trees in its enclosure, and the “stinky camels”. She’s even been requesting to return to the zoo with her grandparents.

So this morning, I asked Mitzi if she wanted to go to the zoo tomorrow, and she responded with a resounding “Yeeaaah!” Thus, the next twenty minutes were a constant steam of conversation about owls and monkeys and piggies as I finished getting her dressed and ready to leave.

As I’m putting my sweater on to go, Mitzi throws her Minnie Mouse purse around her neck, and yells out to me in the most excited tone, “Ready to see the stinky camels?” And as I look over to see her standing eagerly at the gate to the stairs, it hits me: She thinks we’re going to the zoo this morning.

My heart….drops.

This whole time as I was laughing to myself about her recounting her animals friends, I failed to recognize that she has yet to fully understand what terms like “today” and “tomorrow” and “this weekend” mean. And while I think she gets the whole idea of the passage of time in a general sense, it’s clearly not enough.

Because, wow, was there disappointment (such disappointment) when I had to break the news that we were actually going to school instead of the zoo.

There definitely was whine-crying. There may have been some tears.

And at the time, I really didn’t think I was ever going to hear the end of not seeing the stinky camels.

I don’t know whether it makes me a good parent or bad parent, though, that I actually considered ditching work to take my child to the zoo for the morning solely because she was so distraught. I inherently know that it’s typically not good practice to give your child any and everything they desire exactly when they desire it, but it’s exceptionally difficult to battle that notion when you can already picture the joy and excitement your kid will experience when that moment of want-fulfillment happens.

Plus, the anteater also has a baby that it carries around on its back. OMG CUTE.

In the end, we went forward with our regularly scheduled day. Mitzi had recovered by the time she wandered into daycare with a baggie full of Pirate’s Booty, and I was left to complete this longest day of work ever, which I secretly feel is being made even longer by the fact that I could have been at the zoo having fun.

Maybe I should have chosen the stinky camels instead.