Sunday brunch buffet

There are two types of people in this world, People who order off the menu and people who love a buffet.
My son David loves a buffet.
I don’t know what he loves about it. He gets the same things every time.
Breakfast buffet is bacon and a plethora of deserts. Dinner is chow mien and a plethora of deserts.
It could be the abundance of beautifully presented food, colors and smells wafting together with the promise of an over stuffed belly.
It’s usually me complaining that I’ve eaten too much and that I’ll never eat again to avoid the pain of stomach stretching. He on the other hand, complains little more than an hour later of being hungry.
What ever the reason he loves a buffet to the point of my advantage becoming very clear.
“David,” I say bracing myself for the fight. “If you take out the garbage we can go to Sunday brunch buffet.”
“ O.k Mom” and off he goes to take out the garbage,
None of the usual whining or stall tactics. He just up and takes out the garbage.
Hmmm, I think to my self, curious.
A few weeks later.
“ David, I need your room cleaned up before we can go out and have some fun today.”
“Can we go to Sunday brunch buffet Mom?”
“Sure .”
“Yes!” He says in the way little boys do. Delight in his eyes a bent arm is brought down to his side in an exaggerated act of celebration and scampers off to clean his room.
I must tell you that this is not a normal persons room. It is, in fact, it’s own eco system complete with tornado’s , hurricanes, and what appears to be it’s very own rain forest growing in a multitude of left over lunch containers placed in various strategic locations through out 'David’s world'.
This was no small task I had given him.
I sit down with my book and cup of coffee in anticipation for the hours of relaxation the task promises me.
Half an hour later David comes bouncing out of his room.
“I’m done!” He announces triumphantly.
I am skeptical, “What do you mean you're done?”
“My room’s clean, can we go?”
“Did you clean under your bed?”
“Yup”
“What about under your dresser?”
“Done”
“You’d better not have thrown everything in the closet.”
“Nope”
“ Do you want to go and check be fore I come in ? Cause if I find a mess I’m not going to be happy.”
As you can see we've done this routine before.

“Come check Mom.” He says to me as he pulls me down the hall to his room.
I admit I am a little afraid of what I will find. Entering 'David’s world' is an enter at your own risk kind of activity.
As I get to the door I realize that it is very quiet, no birds or monkeys, earth quake rumblings or even the sound of a lost pet crying to get back out of 'the world'.
Fearfully I step towards the door. Sweat, I notice, has broken out on my forehead. I strain to hear …anything... as I turn the knob.
My young son bouncing beside me begs for my entrance to happen quickly so we can get to the buffet before all the deserts are gone.
Cautiously I open the door only to be greeted with a wonderful surprise. The room is clean! Sparkling clean, no smell. No rain forest. No monkeys.
“David this looks great,” I say shock clearly outlined on my face. “but what did you do? Where are the monkeys, and the birds? And the rainforest?”
“What are you talking about Mom, There’s no monkeys.”
“There used to be monkeys.”
“um…no there didn’t” He says to me in a tone that clearly indicates his assessment of my sanity.
Just then I feel a warm fury being rub up against my leg. Monkey fear begins to creep through my body.
Forcing myself beyond my comfort zone I look down.

“You found the cat! ”
“He wasn’t lost Mom.”

Having not see the cat for several months I assumed him to be lost. My mistake.

I love a Sunday brunch buffet.