The Pleasures of Childhood

We went out for ice cream just now, a long promised treat for a goal achieved by Bean. We almost never go out for ice cream, so this was a huge deal for my kids. Watching each of them eat their treat was almost as much fun as eating my own.

For seven-year-old Bean, it was all about having a two-scoop sundae covered in strawberry syrup with whipped cream and a cherry on top. He had stars in his eyes when we served it to him, like he'd just been handed a golden goose. "Oh, this is SO GOOD!!!" he kept saying.

When you're five, the ultimate is a really tall ice cream cone. I offered Fish a sundae, but he wanted the double cone. Chocolate and strawberry. He savored every runny, drippy lick. He had the most adorable chocolate mustache.

I let Roo choose her flavor by color. She choose orange. I thought to get her a dish, but she said "I want a cone!" Then she asked for a "spoon please." She sat in her chair and ate her entire ice cream cone with a spoon. It was the funniest thing. She got very perplexed when it got down into the cone part and it was hard to get out. We kept telling her to eat the cone and she wouldn't until we told her it was a cookie. Then it disappeared pretty quick.

The Rabbit sat peacefully in her stroller and stuck her tongue out at us. She's very entertaining that way.

What was the occasion for our celebration, you ask? Well, long long long ago I promised Bean that when he reached the middle of his reading book (so, 50 of the 100 lessons) I would take him out for ice cream. This was out of desperation when he was in the early 40s on his lessons and Fish was in the late 20s and gaining rapidly on him. He was totally balking and being awful every time I tried to do reading with him, so I thought ice cream would motivate him. It didn't work because he really had reached the limit of what his brain could handle at the time. I finally realized that and we shelved the reading book for several months. However, a couple of days ago he brought me the reading book and said "let's do this." We did two lessons on the spot. And today Lesson Fifty was completed. There was nothing else to do but go out for ice cream Immediately.