What the......What?

As I sit here in yet another Starbucks waiting on a good friend of mine, I'm reminded of the last time I was in a Starbucks. What a strange situation I found myself in there....*cue wavy line thingys*

My 5 year old daughter attended a birthday party at one of those indoor bouncy house places. You know the sort, giant rooms with several different inflatable bouncy jungle gyms for kids to break their neck or catch scarlet fever on. They're glorious.

But I digress. My mom and I picked her up from the party and decided that, since we wanted some Starbucks, we would treat her to Starbucks as well. After all, she had just been loaded up on sugar and adrenaline, by all means, let's keep this buzz going. (Just a pun, it was never my intention to caffeinate my child!) So we located the nearest store and headed in that direction.

I have never even looked to see if they sold drinks for kids at Starbucks before, but I figured they would have some sort of juice so I felt confident. As I approached the counter I asked if they had apple juice (my girl didn't want any hot chocolate or cider and she despises all kinds of milk) and the woman directed me to the cold case which was, in fact, devoid of any kind of juice at all. I informed her of the situation and she agreed to give her a small cup of apple juice from their private stash at a reasonable rate. Hooray! We would all be appeased and enjoy Starbucks together on this glorious late summer day. We shuffled over (that's all you can do with an over-tired 5 year old, shuffle)  to the tiny waiting area in this, the tiniest 'Bucks I've ever seen, and waited patiently.

Some time later our name is called and we receive our beverages. We stop to organize at the sugar table and  I reach for the cup that must be my daughter's apple juice, as it is the smallest one. It is hot. I think I've grabbed my chai tea latte by mistake and grab the much larger cup which I now believe to contain the apple juice. It too, is hot. What? Perhaps we got someone else's drink by mistake? I opened the lid to the smaller cup and it is frothy....did they just serve my 5 year old a latte? It smells like apple juice so I take a sip, and yes, it is apple juice. HOT apple juice. Weird, right? I tell my daughter it's like hot apple cider and try to talk it up. She is not impressed. So I tell the barrista that I had no idea they planned to heat the apple juice and asked if I could have a cup of ice to pour it over. She rolled her eyes and adamantly stated "I wouldn't do that." OK.......my question to her is "Why not?". Ms. Rolly Eyes is now thoroughly irritated and insists on just giving us an entirely new, unheated cup of juice. We simply cannot salvage the heated juice. Not in her Starbucks. Not on her watch. *cue wavy line thingys again*

Am I the only one who finds this so totally odd? Has this ever happened to anyone else? Should I have assumed that because the juice was ordered from a coffee shop that it should most definitely be delivered hot? I am at a loss. It's certainly not the most Earth shattering event and it doesn't even come close to the toddler who was served an alcoholic beverage at an Applebee's last year, but it still puzzles me. I guess you can just file this one under "How to Irritate Barristas and Score Free Hot Apple Juice".

Drama from your Mama?

You can rest assured that, when I tell you that I hate drama, I tell you the truth. So how is it, then, that I end up with the 2 of the most over-dramatic children I have ever met?

I speak of my 5 year old male and 4 year old female offspring. My oldest, and most, how should I say it......... dynamic of my 4 children. Thus far. :-/

These two fly off the handle when "hit" over the head with a foam knee mat by their 2 year old sister. They scream bloody murder at the slightest hint of foul weather. Their screams rival those of old school horror flicks when someone darest not to share the hot toy of the hour......I could go on, but I sense your annoyance already.

Understand that I know they are children and, being as such, can not be expected to behave as adults. I know this. This is not what I expect. What I do expect is that my near 6 year old son should be able to have a day pass where he hasn't lost his mind over the most ridiculous of sibling offenses. Or parental "offenses", for that matter. What I do expect is that my precious daughter should not be screaming in fictional agony every single time she comes in contact with an unforeseen obstacle.

Have I set my expectations too high? They are my eldest, and therefore, my first children and every experience with them is a first for me. For this reason I realize that perhaps I'm just naive in the ways of the small fry, but this can't really be normal, can it?

Don't get me wrong, I love my kids and all their strange idiosyncrasies. I do understand that they can only play with the hand they've been dealt (I've never claimed to be a perfectly level citizen). I've tried everything from ignoring offensive behavior to acting immediately to correct it with either outpourings of sympathy (for "wounds") or swift justice (for "wounds" inflicted), all to no avail. The drama just plays on......and on......and on.....

Am I alone out there? Are there any other parents in the great blue yonder reading this now and saying: "What in the blazes?!? This woman can see into my house!"? If you're out there, could you help a Mama out? Any suggestions/encouraging words from those in the trenches are appreciated, just leave them stage right. I'll pick them up during intermission.