Chasing Rainbows

I wasn't kidding when I said I'm failing at feeding all of the people in this house. It seems like every time I feed one, another one complains of hunger. It's as if they need to eat more than once per week or something.

That situation being what it is, carry out is A Very Important Thing these days. It was definitely very important a few nights ago when 8:00 rolled around and dinner hadn't happened. I figured a quick run to pick up pizza would do the trick, so Alexis and I jumped in the car and headed out.

Just as we pulled into the parking lot to get ice cream (What? You don't stop for ice cream on your way to pick up pizza? You totally should.), it started to rain. By the time we got back in the car, it was pouring.

The good news: It wasn't a sharknado.

The bad news: Parking for the pizza place is half a block from the shop.

I wasn't really looking forward to imitating a drowned rat, but we headed for the pizza place anyway. As I drove, Alexis commented on the weather. She noticed that there were sunny pockets amidst the rain clouds, so she started hunting for rainbows.

She hit the jackpot.

"Mom! Look! A rainbow!" she proclaimed as she pointed in the exact direction we needed to go.

I'd like to say I'm all sorts of cool about things like rainbows, but I'm not. I was just as excited as Alexis. There was nobody else on the road, so I stopped to take a quick photo.

The rainbow looked crazy close, so I jokingly commented that we should see if we could find where it started. I didn't think about the fact that Alexis doesn't always get sarcasm, so the next thing I knew, I really was driving towards the rainbow in search of its start.

The further we drove, the further away the rainbow seemed to be. Alexis noticed the optical illusion and urged me to drive faster. "Hurry before it goes away!" she said. She continued on, "Maybe there are leprechauns there."

She thought about her statement for a minute and then decided to recant it. "Not that I believe in leprechauns or that sort of thing. I know they're pretend."

I don't know what "that sort of thing" means, but Santa will be investigating that claim in a few months.

Just as I was running out of real estate to continue the fake pursuit, the rainbow disappeared. It was as if the universe understood how badly I wanted that pizza. So we drove to the pizza place, parked, and started to walk in. Fortunately, the rain had stopped, but then Alexis noticed some dark clouds off to the north. "Look!" she said as she pointed.

"MOM! THERE'S ANOTHER RAINBOW!" she yelled as she tugged on my arm.

"OK, but we need to get the pizza before we chase it," I said.

"MOOOOOOM." She stretched the word to four syllables before saying "But we have to get the pot of gold!"

I promised to hurry as I drug Alexis into the pizza place to pick up dinner. She stood next to me urging me to rush the entire time, at one point saying, "But, moooooom! What's more important, food or money?"

That's a touch question right there. Fortunately, Alexis knew the answer.

"Money is more important, mom! You can always buy food if you have money," she declared.

She had a point. Too bad we never managed to find where the rainbows started. We could have purchased dinner for the entire week.

Comments

[Cheri @ Blog This Mom!]

Smart girl. Sweet mom. XO