You bite it, you buy it

Tad is not allowed to watch Wallace & Gromit until further notice.

He has developed an obsession with cheese. It has gotten to the point where he breaks into the fridge and brings me either the string cheese or the little snack cheeses that I’ve bought in the past… because he WANTS CHEESE.

I picked up a couple of 2 pound medium cheddar cheeses that were on sale with a coupon at Fred Meyer a week or so ago. My mother bought one off me, so Tad and I took it to her house after school last week. However, before Grandma could put it in the fridge, Tad had tried to eat a corner of the cheese – through the plastic.

Do you see where this is going?

Last Thursday, I took Tad with me to Top Foods to do a little grocery shopping and pick up a prescription for me. We got a “car” cart for him to “drive” in, but I didn’t buckle him down, so he was able to get in and out. He was doing really well – and he knows exactly where the bakery is and that they have sample cookies if you say “please” – until we hit the dairy section.

“CHEEEEESE!”

And he was off like a shot. Meanwhile, I am pushing a behemoth of a cart, and before I can stop him, Tad has sunk his teeth into a brick of cheese. Not once. Not twice. THREE TIMES.

And was this any brick of cheese? Oh, nooooo, of course not. This was a Tillamook Baby Loaf of COLBY CHEESE.

IT WAS NOT ON SALE. IT WAS $11.49.

Tad was in big trouble. I buckled him in while I was scolding him, and stared at the cheese. The teeth marks were so bleeding obvious that I just couldn’t leave it there. I put the cheese in my cart.

At the checkout, the clerk noticed Tad. “He’s so quiet!” she said.

“He’s in trouble,” I replied through gritted teeth. “The colby cheese I just bought? He put teeth marks in it.”

The clerk did a double-take. “Oh.”

“I hope he likes colby, because he’s going to be eating it,” I said.

I was really mad. He couldn’t have bitten a cheese that was on sale, or even just the regular medium cheddar? Nope. He has good taste, but should I have to pay for it?? No!

So I took $10 out of his piggy bank. You bite it, you buy it, you eat it.

Until Grandma stepped in. “You did WHAT?? I’ll buy the cheese for $5! Put $5 back in his piggy bank!”

Grandma likes colby cheese. So she bought it, teeth marks and all, from her grandson for $5. And yes, I put the money back in his piggy bank.

So no more walking alone in grocery stores for him. And no more Wallace & Gromit for a while, either.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 19th, 2008 at 1:29 am and is filed under Children, Shopping Stories.
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