Too Smart

We are in a rut. School has started, the pool is only open a few hours in the evening, and some of Emma's friends have started Kindergarten this year. It's a hard time. Yesterday, to help her have fun I met some good friends at Chuck E. Cheese's and then we went to the mall for lunch and ice cream.

Emma loves Chuck E. Cheese's. We do not go there often, maybe four times a year, and so it is a big deal when we go. She loves everything about it: the lights, the games, the picture making machines, the tickets, the prizes, the horrible food. . . Heaven.

My friend Laura gave us a coupon for 100 tokens for $10. This is a great deal as normally they are $5 for just 20. We came home with a cup full of unused tokens, and Emma started planning her return trip. But how to get her Mom to agree?

I told Emma this morning that she was starting dance lessons in 8 days. Hurrah! She took this information and then decided to use it in her little plot. First, she asked me if we could go back to Chuck E. Cheese's?

Not today, I said.

Maybe in a few days? Like eight? she asked.

Sure, I said.

Then she came up to me about 20 minutes later and said that there was a huge problem. She was going to dance lessons in eight days! That meant that she could not go to Chuck E. Cheese's in eight days. So she informed me that we needed to go sooner. Like maybe tomorrow.

I do not know whether I should be impressed or a little scared.