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Today one of your favorite foods is spaghetti-o’s in a can. You love the spaghetti-o’s with meatballs! And you are big enough now to open the can, dump them in a bowl, and warm them in the microwave, and eat them, all by yourself. And you like to make this delicious lunch for yourself quite often.

And today is saving meatballs. Just in case. Because meatballs are the best part. And you really don’t know WHY you want to save the meatballs yet, because what you really want is some kind of unicorn-bait to put in the yard so you can catch a unicorn. And you do not think unicorns are carnivorous, because horses are not. But you reason, that unicorns might be part LION, like their tails, and lions DO eat meat… so maybe unicorns DO like spaghetti-o’s or meatballs! And you think on this some more…

And Today, you get caught with a paper napkin full of cold meatballs, with the sauce licked off, walking out the door. And a puzzled and amused Daddy stops you, because he sees you take the meatball pile out of the microwave, where you had left it, (because bugs can’t get into either the microwave or the refrigerator when it is shut, but they CAN get to food ANYWHERE else) and you are asked to explain (to Daddy) just what it is you think you are doing?!

And you are pretty nonplussed about what he means, so you just answer,
“They are messier with the sauce on.”

Daddy: But… are those meatballs? And also, aren’t you going to turn the microwave ON before you take them out?

Amanda: Oh, no. They are easier to carry cold.

Daddy now starts to sound annoyed or perplexed.

Daddy: But… WHY DO YOU WANT COLD MEATBALLS??

I start to get nervous.

Amanda: Well, I don’t know, I guess first I liked hot best, but then I found out cold are good too, at least I like them cold anyway, and plus easier to carry, because hot rips the napkin and won’t carry as many, and is it ok if I go outside now?

Daddy: Well, SURE! I guess… go on outside then.

And he shakes his head, but not like he is angry or like you have done anything BAD, so you shrug too, and go out the back door of grandmother’s house, which is your house too at the time because you live there today… And you find that you need to eat a couple of the meatballs, so you can free one hand, to be able to turn the doorknob and open the door. And you wish you could open the door with your feet, and think you should work on developing that skill… just in case, next time your hands are full of meatballs again...