Over-eating and under-eating

I was at home with my 12 year-old daughter and my husband the whole of yesterday. After doing all chores around the house, at 7pm I decided to go out to buy a new remote control for our TV at the master's bedroom. Both my hubby and my daughter went out with me.

Even before reaching the mall, my daughter started to convince me to have a very good dinner. She said she would like to have baby back ribs, fries, potato salad, baked mussels and chicken bbq. I did not mind her wish list knowing that at the restaurant she would realize later that she would not be able to eat all of them. I also thought that I could just order what I think we can eat and I am sure she would not even have the chance to complain. I am the "mom" and my decision would always prevail.

As we reached the mall, she was so delighted to see her favorite restaurant Billy Bombers and started to insist that we have dinner first before we even get the remote control. However, I insisted back by saying "we'll get the remote control quickly because the store would close soon."

We got the remote control and proceeded to the restaurant. When we reached, we were requested to wait for a while to be seated. The receptionist gave us the menu list to choose our order while we waited, and as I expected, my daughter pointed to all the food which she mentioned to me earlier. With a sigh, I told her that I would also like creamy spinach and if my choice would be added to hers, our choice would just be too much for only three of us. But then my daughter started to convince me why she should be allowed to order her choices:

"Mom, at our Home Economics Class yesterday, my teacher asked us to list down all the food that we usually eat for a day. I submitted a long list and then my teacher commented that I have a tendency to over-eat. But afterwards she also asked us to list down all the activities we usually do for a day and when she saw my longer list, my teacher said that I am actually under-eating. And my teacher told me that I am at the age when my metabolism is fast so I need to eat more to have more energy."

So I asked her, "what did you have on your "activities list?" Then she answered,"Wake up, bathe, walk 10-12 minutes to bus stop, oftentimes run to catch the bus, walk 5-7 minutes to the school, attend classes, walk up and down stairs in school, study, do outdoor school activities, walk back 5-7 mins to the bus stop, take the bus, walk back 10 mins to home again, do homework, fix my things..." My daughter stopped her enumeration when the waitress called us to be seated.

The waitress asked then what we want and I found myself ordering exactly all that my daughter wished for. And she even added, "Cheese Fondue" with tacos, onion rings and some potato skins" but I really didn't mind. With my daughter's small frame and the wonders that she could do at home and at school, why would I even hold back?

Well, while eating, my hubby and I watched our daughter delightfully as she indulged on her baby back ribs, chicken bbq, potato skins, tacos, salad, onion rings, mussels,etc... She burped and said, "excuse me" afterwards.

And going back home, my jokingly asked, "I thought that you would not order what she wants?" I just smiled and kept silent.