The Power of the Ice Cream Cone

I took the girls to McDonald's on Wednesday after the summer reading activity at the library. Brooklyn and Makenna had gotten coupons for free ice cream cones the week before, for reaching their weekly reading goals. It was lunch time and I knew the girls were hungry (as was I), but we only went for the cones. The genius behind the FREE ice cream cone coupon for kids is that you won't leave with just a cone...you'll buy meals (for the whole family) and more cones on top of that for the children in your family that didn't get a coupon. See? I'm a smart consumer who sees right through their marketing ploy. Yet, that didn't distract me from contemplating buying "real" food first before eating our frozen treats, whilst the irresistible smell of french fries wafted past me. After all, what mother lets her children eat dessert before clearing the dinner plate? A POOR ONE...as in no $$$. (I'd only have to pay for 3 of the 5 cones.) So, five cones I bought. I was sure the girls would ask for other food, but they didn't even after we'd walked past all the other families eating their meals.

While we were eating our "cheap" treats, several children were eying us in the corner. A couple of kids even stopped in their tracks after shooting out of the bottom of a nearby slide in the play area. They stared, and stared, and stared. Brooklyn noticed and asked, "Mom, why are they looking at us like that?" I laughed and said it was because of the ice cream...they probably wanted some and were a little jealous. The girls giggled.

After the girls finished a good part of their ice cream, they all went to play. A little while later, a young boy with a red baseball cap came up to me and said, "Did you buy those ice creams for your kids?" "Yes," I said. "Are those the kiddie cones?" he asked. "No, these are the regular size," I responded. "Do they still sell kiddie cones here?" he asked. "I don't know. I've never asked for one." "Are those the large cones?" he asked. "Yes". "How much are those ones?" he asked. "99 cents," I responded. He then ran off to ask his mother for one. She said no. Brooklyn witnessed the whole exchange from up above in the play equipment and asked what it was all about. When I told her it was about the ice cream cones, she giggled again.

A few minutes later, another little boy came up to me, mumbled something pointing to the cones sitting on the table, and then left. Brooklyn saw that conversation, too, and asked if it was about the cones. I assumed it was, told her so and she giggled once more.

Another little boy came out of the slide, did a big circle around our table (while eying the cones) and ran off. His mother saw him lingering at our table and asked if he was talking to me. I assured her he wasn't and she said, "Good, 'cuz it's just like him to ask a perfect stranger for a taste of ice cream."

And, yet again, red baseball cap boy came up again and asked how much the cones were. I told him and he ran off to ask his mother. Her decline was followed by a fit of jumping up and down, crying tears, a bunch of "why's", more jumping, sitting down on the bench, crossing arms over the chest, and a pouty face. Mother did not give in.

Who would have though that a little ice cream cone (five to be exact) would cause so much commotion. Needless to say, the girls were not at all sad that they didn't get to eat lunch there. They were feeling pretty proud of their ice cream cones.

We left when it got too noisy and the mean big kids showed up. We went home and had lunch...leftover spaghetti.