Typical Biscuit

Biscuit is a smart and funny kid, and he does and says things all the time that remind Jeff and me of how smart and funny he actually is.

My car is in the shop having some work done on the computerS. I capitalized that S because I can't believe that my car has multiple computers. On my first car, I could open the hood and tell you what pretty much everything was. Nowadays, you have to study the manual to find out how to check the oil!

Anyway, Jeff, Biscuit and I have been sharing a car for a little while. It hasn't been terribly convenient because of the later hours I've worked with our computer upgrade at work, and Jeff has been filling in on the high school sports reporter beat until they can hire someone to replace the guy who left.

But we've worked hard to coordinate our schedules and make compromises when we need to.

Anyway, I worked a little later than usual this evening, so Jeff went to pick up Biscuit, then came back for me. He called and asked if I was ready, and I told him to take Biscuit around to look at Christmas lights or something because I needed a little more time.

Jeff decided to drop by our mechanic's shop.

Biscuit and Jeff walked in the door, and before Jeff could even say anything, Biscuit said, "Hey, Steve. Is my Mom's car fixed and ready to go?"

Steve couldn't help but laugh, but he didn't dismiss Biscuit.

"I'm working on it as hard as I can, and you'll be able to ride in your Mom's car again real soon," Steve told him.

Jeff and Biscuit were waiting at the curb for me when I walked out of work. I got in the car and asked Biscuit how his day was and the usual chit-chat. Then Jeff asked about dinner.

I have to admit that we've been eating out a lot lately because either I'm working late or just wiped out from work, so when Jeff asked the question, I said, "Well, we have some leftovers or I could do something quick at home or we could eat out."

Jeff said, "Biscuit was just talking about how he could smell fish sticks and sweet potatoes."

"Yeah," Biscuit said. "But you know what else I can smell? ... Pizza! I LOVE pizza. We should have pizza for dinner."

And we gave in.

As we were pulling into the parking lot at the pizza place, it occurred to me that it has been several months since we've been to this particular restaurant. Even so, Biscuit looked at the restaurant windows as we pulled into a parking place and said, "Hey! They changed their tens."

"They what?" I asked.

"They changed their tens," Biscuit said again.

I looked at Jeff to see if he understood what Biscuit was talking about.

"Last time we were here," Jeff said, "they had big signs on each window that any pizza was $10. Now, they're $11."

How and why did his little brain hang on to that particular information?

After we had dinner, we went to do a little shopping. Biscuit has been asking for a belt, a new winter hat and gloves. Do you know how hard it is to find a belt and gloves for a kid his age and size? I can find plenty of mittens, but no gloves.

Jeff was driving down one of the rows in the parking lot when Biscuit looked up and yelled so loudly that Jeff and I both jumped.

"FIRE TRUCK!!! FIRE TRUCK!!!" he screamed.

So Jeff drove over and parked on the row next to the fire truck.

Biscuit and I were walking around the truck, and he said, "It's a pumper truck, Mom."

And it was. Then Jeff said, "What else do they call pumper trucks?"

"Engines!" Biscuit said.

I got Biscuit to stand right beside the front door of the truck that had the city fire department logo. Then I took a picture with my phone and texted it to my brother. (My phone isn't fancy, so I can't email it to myself to post here, and I don't have any kind of downloading capabilities, either.)

Just as Biscuit and I started to turn around to head into the store, the headlights, the red lights on top of the truck and some flashing lights on the sides all lit up. Then the engine started.

It scared Biscuit so bad that he took off running across the parking lot. Luckily, his coat has a hood on it, so I was able to yank him back.

Jeff was standing there laughing, but Biscuit and I had no idea a firefighter was sitting in the driver's seat of that truck.

The firefighter rolled down his window, and we walked over to talk.

"I'm sorry if I scared you, Little Man," the firefighter said. "I just thought you'd like to see the lights flash, and to do that, I have to crank up the truck."

Biscuit probably didn't hear the man because he had his hands clasped tightly over his ears.

The firefighter apologized to me for scaring Biscuit, but I told him not to worry about it. He gave Jeff and me a good laugh for the evening.

Biscuit told the firefighter that he went to Station 21 for his birthday.

"Oh," the firefighter said, "that's a good station. They have a hazmat truck and everything."

We finally made our way into the store and got what we needed. And I lucked out and found a belt in Biscuit's size. The hats and mittens were picked over, so I'm still on the hunt for those.

By the time we got home, we had time to give Biscuit a bath, let him play for about 10 minutes, then he was off to bed. The mechanic shop, pizza and a real-live firetruck ... could his night have been any better?!?