The Upper Hand

So, Jake's been a handful lately. It would be more accurate to say he's been a mindful because he's not physically overactive, he's cunning. His mind works quickly ... and bitterly sometimes.

Saturday morning he was upset we didn't have pancakes, his go-to breakfast for eight years. Yes, he's eaten other things for breakfast and there have been other mornings he went without pancakes with much less drama. But this wasn't one of those mornings.

I told him he could have cereal, biscuits, bacon, sausage, eggs. Hell, I'd even make chicken nuggets. What about waffles? Aren't waffles basically pancakes? No. No. And no.

So I gave in, sort of. I told him I would take him out for pancakes, just the two of us, but we were going to talk about his behavior lately. That's both the dark cloud and silver lining in our current situation. He's old enough that if you catch him at the right time you can truly talk to him. But that also means he's old enough to be shrewd.

Off we went to our local diner, one of Jake's favorite spots. It's busy, we sit at the counter. The waitress brings me coffee and menus. I tell her we don't need the menus. Jake knows what he wants ... And he orders himself .... waffles.