Child vs. Swine

We went to the Olive Garden with the Carvers last night to celebrate Sandi's mom's birthday. We planned well and went at 4 pm- perfect to beat the Friday crowd and perfect for the young and the restless.

There we were- all 11 of us, eating and enjoying the great company- Ella and Brevan trying to keep their exuberance to a tolerable level for other dinners, Maya sucking on a very obscure pacifier whose front was two giant buck teeth. There she was, full on scowl and looking like bucky the beaver for all the world to see.

Anyway, after we ate, I was surveying the still nearly-full plates of our youngest dinners and commenting on just how much food is wasted on these little eaters everyday. We compost and grace the dog with the occasional scraps, but still the waste (and the cost) is considerable.

Seemingly out of nowhere Kristi offers, "You would be money ahead if you just got pigs."

Huh?

Perhaps it was my mind being tangled up with the regret that I hadn't ordered the Pina Colada or the Long Island Iced Tea I had been considering, or perhaps it was my lack of sleep, but this made absolutely no sense. I knew Kristi's Mensa-like mind must be saying something of value but I just could not put it together.

My confusion and horror must have shown because she quickly filled in, "I mean for the table scraps- you feed them to the pigs all year long and then at the end of the year you eat the pigs. Your money ahead."

I'm glad she clarified. For one freakish minute I thought her pregnant brain was actually saying that pigs would have been a better choice than kids. I have to say, I pondered this thought in the wee hours when Maya woke with a fever at 2:45 a.m. and I only caught another broken 40 minutes of sleep for the rest of the night...