It was supposed to make it easier on me this week. It was supposed to make the whole process of getting the kids up and getting them off to daycare simpler while CareerMom is off doing Team Building in Phoenix. But alas, it was not to be.

…Sometime this past weekend

CareerMom: Why don’t I just pay for the kid’s breakfasts at daycare this week while I’m gone. That’ll make it easier on you in the morning.

Me: *snort* You fix them breakfast in the morning; I can handle it too (rolling my eyes)

CareerMom: Yeah, but you’re usually here for a while anyway and help me get them ready and stuff. You’ll be by yourself.
(You see what she did here? She mollified my indignation at the apparent assertion that I couldn’t handle getting the boys to daycare. Open chest cavity, push correct button…)

Me: Well, it would make things easier. You sure you don’t mind?

CareerMom: No, I don’t mind and I’m looking at the menu here and it’s decent, so they should get a pretty good breakfast.

Me: OK, thanks.

Back in the present…

We left the house at 7:25a.m. and arrived at daycare around 7:50. They stop serving breakfast at 8 a.m., so we got there just under the bell. Now normally, they bring all the kids’ breakfasts to their classrooms at once, so when I dropped MLE off in his room and didn’t see a breakfast, I was a bit surprised. As was his teacher. So, MLI and I headed back up to the front, where I mentioned to the lady that we had paid for breakfast. She said, “Oh yeah, I’ll get it.”

So, I took MLI on down to his room. At some point along the walk, he figured out that I had NOT brought him breakfast,like we normally do and he started sulking and proclaimed, “I don’t want to eat their breakfast.” At this point, I was like, “Well, that’s what you’re having and if you don’t eat it, you’ll be really really hungry by lunchtime.”

I mentioned to his teacher that breakfast should be on its way, and then I kissed MLI on the top of the head and headed out. As I walked back by MLE’s class, I noticed, “No breakfast” and MLE was screaming his head off because he’s been up since 6:30 and he’s starving!

So, I walk back up to the front, where the same lady I just spoke to is on the phone. When she got off, I said:

Me: Breakfast? (making this little shruggy motion with my arms and shoulders)
Her: Oh, well we ran out of biscuits so it’s gonna be like 20 minutes before I can get him something else.

Me: And what would that “something else” be?
Her: Well, I’ll get him some fruit.

Me: Fruit is NOT breakfast, I don’t care what vegetarians tell you. They need more than just some fruit.

…there was more, but as my voice got louder, her demeanor got more defiant and it turned into me pretty much chewing her out.

I then told her to refund our breakfast money for the rest of the week because I would take care of it since I clearly couldn’t rely on them (yeah, I tend to over-exaggerate things when I’m mad…).

Now before you all take her side, there are things you should know about our daycare. It used to be run by a family, and well run at that. They sold it to a chain and since then, the staff has become about 50% fantastic and 50% craptastic. This lady falls into the latter category.

After my tirade, I stormed out and spent the next 30 minutes in traffic going to Chick-Fil-A and getting the boys a real manly-man breakfast (not any of this gol-darn hippie-crap!) and then taking it back. And I’m glad I did because when I got to MLI’s room, all they had given him (for the $2.50 we’d paid) was a piece of dry toast and some crushed fruit. I mentioned my episode to his teacher and she said (God bless her!) “Was that XY? We don’t like her much. Oh, I shouldn’t say that in front of you kids.” And then under her breath she said, “But it’s true!”

Some days, I think it’s just me. That maybe I’m just too uptight. But there are just some things in life you don’t mess with, and a man’s kids are one of them.