Eenie, Meenie, Mynie, Mo

I took Jonah to redeem his "Ice Cream with Mommy" coupon that I gave him for Christmas.  He was certain that he wanted BEYUE flavor.  Did you know BLUE is a flavor?  It is when you are three.  When we got to the shop, we pretty much had the joint to ourselves, being as it's winter and a crisp 70 degrees out.  Jonah surveyed the 31 choices and pointed to a tag that had blue lettering on it.  "That's just blue words, honey.  The ice cream is white with cookies in it."  After a while I coaxed him into trying GREEN.  I didn't tell him it was mint chocolate chip, because he calls mint "too picey", and I wanted him to give it a chance.  One tiny sample on a little pink spoon and the boy was hooked.

Two cones and a stack of napkins later and we were seated by the window enjoying our treat.  I had taken my time looking at my choices, too, feeling free to be open minded, but I settled on my almost-usual, chocolate peanut butter.  Even though technically there are 31 choices, to me, there are REALLY only 4 or 5.  Sugar free? Heck no.  Sherbet, or -bert?  If I wanted frozen fruit I'd grind up the strawberries in my freezer that have been there since last summer.  Nothing with "Nut" in the title.  Vanilla is a good choice when the only choice is vanilla.  And please don't throw a bunch of junk into the vanilla and rename it; Ballpark, Quarterback, Jubilee?  Who are we trying to fool here folks?  It's vanilla.

Let's just be honest, if there is something chocolate, with chunks of chocolate or chocolate ribbons running through it, then it's simply a matter of one scoop or two.  Give me five choices of chocolate, and I don't care how many other choices there are.

Jonah was thrilled with his new choice.  His horizon has expanded!  Not only did he eat GREEN, he tried "spicey" ice cream with no permanent damage done.  As we sat smiling and eating, I got to thinking (you saw it coming, didn't you?), how often do I have an idea so stuck in my head that I can't even see that there are other options for how I can behave or respond?  How often is what I am choosing not even related to the question at hand, like Jonah insisting on BLUE flavor, and settling for GREEN, never considering the actual flavor at all?

Tiny-pink-spoon thought for the new year: Try a little something different, even if it is BLUE (or far, or new, or scary, or potentially embarrassing...)

Wow, I think I just gave myself and ice cream headache.