Kintropy In Action

A co-worker stopped by my desk yesterday, admiring my 2 lb Blue Diamond almonds bag on my desk.  We chatted.  Casually, he mentioned his wife had picked up this great snack-pack version at CostCo.  What a great way to help guide portion size, we agreed.

Thus the seed was planted.  I hadn't been to CostCo for awhile.  At home, Hannah was going batty without a trip outside for a day-and-a-half, post-surgery.  I reasoned we could use a post-dinner family trip.  CostCo seemed like the ticket.

So after dinner, we (we being Janette -  thanks, honey!) packed the kids up and headed out to CostCo.  We happen to live within a stone's throw of the what may still be the biggest CostCo store worldwide.  CostCo opened the Hillsboro, OR store as a new concept store:  lots of display space for furniture, those food taster people, etc..  It's quite the browsing and shopping adventure.

We popped over to CostCo, unloaded Hannah's wheelchair & the kids, grabbed a cart, and headed inside.  Hannah was unusually well-behaved and patient as we strolled the isles.  She alternated between looking at all the stuff whizzing by and admiring the highly placed lighting in the warehouse's ceiling.  Gabriel jumped and skipped along the pavement until we advised him to slow down to a walk.  We came, we saw, we shopped.

As anyone who has ever shopped CostCo knows, you go in for one thing, maybe two, and exit with twenty.  I'm usually the first to moan about the total bill while obscuring the fact that many of the unnecessary items in the cart are mine, all mine! 

This shopping trip was no different.  In addition to milk and the almond snacky thing, we purchased blank DVDs and CDs (we were running low), Instant Immersion Spanish DVD-ROM (hey, ten dollars off with the sale ending today), turkey jerkey (makes the night shift run better & low in fat...), batteries, etc..  Yes, most of the extras were for me or for the kids.  Janette fared rather poorly in this trip (sorry, hon).

While Janette checked out, I took the kids over to the snack area.  This is Gabriel's main focus from the point we announce a CostCo trip, walk through the door, stroll the aisles, take the unplanned but mandatory potty stop (announced when we are standing at the warehouse's furthest distance from the restrooms), and prepare to check out.  Schoolwork and reading?  Focus is an issue.  CostCo's snack area?  Focus is Gabriel's first, middle, and last name.

Gabriel, Hannah, and I walked over to the snack area.  Gabriel and I ordered up two churros (his & Mom's) and a chocolate frozen yogurt for Hannah and me to share.  We all sat nearby, waiting for Janette to emerge from one of the long cashier lines a hundred plus feet away.

For Hannah and me, I grabbed two plastic spoons.  We took turns with the chocolate frozen yogurt.  She feinted and jabbed for control of the spoon.  We negotiated, sharing control as the she tasted the yogurt, allowed some to drip out of her mouth, then motioned for the spoon again.  While Hannah and I performed our dance, Gabriel sat beside me, chomping at his churro.

That's when I heard the spoon snap.  Hannah had been chewing on the spoon more than the yogurt.  The snap was short and quiet, but I was paying pretty close attention.  I dove into Hannah's mouth and quickly discovered and extracted the small sliver missing from the spoon in Hannah's mouth.  I compared it to the main spoon fragment, making sure the two pieces fit perfectly together (i.e. no missing remnants in her mouth). 

Mental note:  scratch any non-permanent spoons from the list of things Hannah can put in her mouth (these non-permanent spoons will keep the recently exorcized pacifiers company).

Janette rejoined us soon after.  I relayed the new No-Plastic-Spoons discovery as we finished our desserts. Soon after, with Hannah completely tantrum-less, we headed home to begin our nursing shift.

-- Dad