Maybe I was just really hot because it?s August in Florida and 87 degrees at 8:00 at night. Maybe it was because I was so tired due to the first week of school and my day now starting at 5:15 every morning.

But as I sat with my daughter waiting for a table at Cheescake Factory, I could have sworn this happened.

I walk up to the check in desk at Cheescake, but the host is actually my oldest child.

Me: I?d like a conversation please.

Him: Would you like it inside the home, or outside the home.

Me: Whichever comes sooner. How long do you think the wait will be?

Him: It looks like it will be around five days.

I hem and haw for a while. ?That long?? I question. But I see plenty of moms talking to their children over there.

Him: That?s the wait, nothing I can do.

Me: Ok, I?ll wait.

He hands me the buzzer.

And I wait. And wait. I see him walking towards me at certain points, and I get excited to be called, but he is approaching someone else.

Finally, a few hours shy of the five day wait, my buzzer goes off.

Him: Your conversation is ready now.

We sit.

Him: What will we be talking about today?

 

Me: Um. Not sure. I begin ordering light. So how was your first week of high school. You like it?

Him: It was good. I?m tired.

He seems full already.

But I?m not full yet. I decide to go for a main course.

Me: You have friends in your classes? Do you like your teachers? How?s your lunch period?

I may have overdone it with the meal. As I ask each question, I just know he thinks I?m eating like a pig.

Him: My classes are good. I have a lot of work. I have lunch with a few friends.

Me: Great. Yeah, I?ve noticed you have had a lot of work.

I play with my fork for a little and daydream about eating factory nachos while he texts.

I decide to go for it. Dessert: ?Any cute girls you are interested in??

Oh Shit!  His expression says it all. It?s like he found a hair in his mini burgers, and his giant lemonade was too tart.

Me: We?ll have the check.

But you know what? Even with the long wait, I think I?m heading back there next week. I?m a sucker for my kid, and that oreo cheescake.