Can We Stop for a Snack?

I've been getting a little extra exercise this week by walking Sarah's twin 7-year-olds to and from school each day. That's helping her out, giving me about an extra hour of walking a day (I can use it), and I get the double bonus of hanging around 7-year-olds. Little kids just look at the world differently.

"Can we stop for a snack?" they asked yesterday as we approached the corner of 16th and Market.

"Maybe," I said. I looked around for one of the ubiquitous green booths in Philadelphia that sells snacks.

"No, we have snacks. We have some leftover from our lunch," they said in unison.

When 7-year-olds ask "Can we have a snack?" they don't mean it theoretically. They aren't playing around. They want a snack. Like...now.

"Yes, you can eat your snack," I said. What I meant was they could eat while we walked. They didn't quite get the message.

And they sat down right where they were. Hopped up on one of those big marble planters lining the concourse. Sat down, opened their lunch boxes, pulled out a leftover sandwich, a few almonds, some chocolate-covered pretzels, and had their snack.

I saw a client walking by after a few minutes. I had just been in a meeting with her 15 minutes before and explained then that I had to leave to pick up the kids. And there we were. I said, "We stopped for a snack. Isn't that great?"

"I'd love to be able to sit down and stop for a snack when I want to. I'd like to not have any worries...or meetings. I'd like to be seven again," she said.

Me too. It's a variation on stopping to smell the roses. Only at age 7 it's stopping for a snack.

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