At three in the afternoon during a day of shopping I offered an ice cream treat to my offspring.
My offspring who are typically kind, good mannered, giving, and grateful children.
And we walked into the ice cream shoppe where immediately all three of them at once started spewing out ice cream concoctions more complicated than Steve Martin’s coffee in LA Story.
“Half twist cake batter chocolate fudge half caf frozen yogurt custard in a waffle cone mixed with candy sprinkle fresh pineapple caramel sauce whipped cream and a cherry”
Which would add up to $7.85 EACH.
So I told them “single scoop of one flavor in a cone no toppings!”
$2.35 each and they ate it all and seemed to enjoy it.
But they were the only ones eating a plain single scoop cone that day.
And I was like how did it come to this.
Remember when going for ice cream was just going for ice cream? A single or a double in a sugar cone?
But it’s everywhere – our coffee choices. Our burger building. Our 5,789 black pumps available online. Our salad toppings. Our 352 channels. Our 130 different camps and classes to take our children to this Summer. Now we don’t need to get regular manicures – we can get a gel manicure to last longer. Have you been to the shampoo aisle lately? And have you seen the 58 different kinds of mints at the CVS check-out lane.
Sometimes when I’m driving my new minivan with 90 days of free gazillion XM radio stations and dual auto-sliding doors I think about Laura Ingalls Wilder and how I bet when she went to Oleson’s Mercantile for a treat of ice cream that there was one flavor. And that was the treat. And it was more than good enough for her.
So I want to know. When did a simple plain cone of ice cream become not a good enough treat anymore. Why do they have to offer the toppings, the sauce, the cream and the cherry. Shouldn’t we be just happy with the ice cream? Is it not a treat without more treats on top.
I know that we have evolved as a species and we demand more and of course an app for that.
But I still want my kids to just be happy with the gesture. Not the gesture only with hot fudge sauce. Not just with the next big thing.
And I wonder if I opened an ice cream shop and only offered chocolate or vanilla on a sugar cone for 75 cents..if anyone would come.
I know what you mean. The choices are making us spoiled and privileged and entitled.
I’d eat at your ice cream store anytime. As long as there’s chocolate ice cream.
Truly it is. Also – you get a free upgrade to a double scoop.
Amen – I love this. Sometimes the simple & uncomplicated choices are appreciated the most & there is value in that. At least for this mom. We are all about plain vanilla ice cream whether it’s at home or at the DQ. I swear they don’t miss all the other crap they try to convince us we “need”.
So true and a kiddie size vanilla cone from DQ will always be my favorite.
Oh, I would SO be there! I would drive up from NC to MN just to show my kids, now THIS is a treat. Well, I probably wouldn’t do that, but I do agree that things have gotten way over the top & I find myself thinking of Little House quite often & sometimes wishing for the pleasant simplicity of that time period.
Yes! ::Slurps a double shot milk chocolate skim milk whip cream mint mocha.::
Really though, you are not alone in this. Why does everything have to be more more more and newer bigger better? I struggle with and worry about raising children in all of this stuff.
And I would totally come for a 75 cent ice cream. Because, well, it’s ice cream and it’s only 75 cents!
LOL – now that mocha sounds yummy. I’ll forgive you if you share.
I would.
{for chocolate}
Fabulous post, scary thoughts, GREAT mama.
xo
It’s all too much sometimes.
When I start thinking about this I think about the boy we sponsor in Uganda, through Compassion International, and how he’s blessed to have ONE pair of shoes and just EAT every day. Yes, I go there…
It’s hard not to go there. This year we stopped having presents at my kid’s bday parties. Now we ask only for an optional donation to the charity of my child’s choice.
I would go there!!
When I was a kid, I remember that I was allowed one flavor, one scoop, and a sugar cone. The flavor was often more than just chocolate or vanilla, but there weren’t any extra toppings on it.
I think we could all use a LOT more simplicity in all areas of our lives.
Totally. As a kid we would go to BR a lot and I always got the bubble gum ice cream..lol Now I think OMG that is disgusting.
I love Dairy Queen where you have the choice of chocolate dipped or not. Always have. And it’s not even ice cream because my lactose-intolerant DH can eat it too. But I dig through pennies in the change cup to buy one or two.
It is hard not to be overwhelmed by choices these days.
Gotta love the chocolate dip at DQ. I agree!
Amen. Everything is getting WAY too complicated. For me it’s taken the joy of going out for a treat. No wonder so many people are so stressed. I would love to come to your ice cream store.
I think the stress comment is a good point, mom. I was so excited to take them for a simple cone but we walked in and my blood pressure just rose through the roof with all of it.
You would make a killing, and could charge way more than 75c. There is a sandwich place in DC that only offers five types of pre-made sandwiches and four types of pre-made salads. Nothing made-to-order. Very limited. And they charge as much as any other sandwich place!! They are charging off the theory that DC’ers are tired of options; they’re making it easier for us to choose.
As a side benefit, they also make fewer sandwiches at a time, so they are fresher, and any leftovers are given to the homeless at the end of the day.
The moral: limited options = huge money maker!!
Okay that is so dang awesome!
I would come! Simple is so much better! But this is so true – and scary. There are way too many choices these days. Laura Ingalls Wilder lived a lovely life without it all.
Yeah… I definitely named my daughter Laura having been obsessed with the Little House books since I was 6!
oh, how I love XM radio…how did I live w/o it for so long?
and we went for ice cream last night…but our Carvel has a free sprinkle tower so the kids can add free multi colored sprinkles til their hearts are content, or until we yell at them to stop wasting them…
LOL – sprinkles for all!
I would come (for chocolate or strawberry because DEATH TO VANILLA!). I get this so very much because damn, just be happy with the one thing. Why is the one thing not good enough? We don’t do all the bells and whistles at Baskin Robbins either (and don’t do Ben & Jerry’s because I like my ice cream to look edible and its name to be appealing). The 217 types of jeans, however many kinds of chips, it all just gets to be too much sometimes. Just have a scoop of sherbet and let’s go.
Okay – strawberry too. But the vanilla stays.
Yes! I would come to your ice cream shop and buy my kids a 75 cent cone. Vanilla only is fine.
We have experienced the same issue. My kids think we are poor because I so often say “we don’t need to spend that much money on ___.” Ice cream is the perfect example — it doesn’t need to be over the top to enjoy it.
My kids know they get one scoop and one topping. I sometimes feel bad as the watch the kid in front of them load down a cone with 10 toppings and 3 scoops. But surprisingly, they still enjoy it. If they acted too disappointed I’d probably beat the tar out of them which would be a super buzz-kill after ice cream. So thank goodness they are not complete spoiled brats.
I find myself saying the same thing to my kids. At the ice cream shop I did say to them “I’m not spending that kind of money on sprinkles when a plain cone is just fine.” Now I wonder if they think we are poor..
Amen Sister! And if you opened that ice cream shop I so would drive from Texas to Minnesota to have some plain chocolate or vanilla ice cream with my kids for 75 cents. Will forget the fact that getting there would cost more than that and I might or might not have any of my very little sanity left.
I cancelled my cable tv because there were so many choices and not a darn thing on. It’s been 18 months and I don’t miss it one bit. I would totally come to your ice cream shop, too.
We have never had cable but just had it for a 6 month trial. I could spend all day flipping channels and watching nothing. So crazy.
I would come for some ice cream that only cost $0.75
I would! I like to keep it simple. although, a bit of hot fudge sauce is not a bad little extra every now and then.
Your post reminds me of my trip to Cuba. You will not find 63 kinds of cereal, or cookies, or crackers in their grocery stores. And if the 2-3 brands of local potato chips are not good enough for you – you are welcome to pay about $12 US for the can of imported Pringles.
Naturally, I don’t see a communist dictatorship as the answer – but surely there could be a happy medium between that and rampant capitalism?
Exactly. And I admittedly am I huge fan of hot fudge. shhh
I agree that our society is oversaturated with excess. And it’s making us all assholes.
Our thoughts are running in the same vein this week – my post tomorrow bemoans the future of our society and asks the general question, “How did we get here… and where are we going?” It was based on an incident I witnessed at Target this weekend and is pretty dark and serious and ranty for me, but it needs to be said. Just like this did.
Because I also want my kid to grow up to be a decent human being.
Oh I cannot wait to read!
When I went to #RAGBRAI, I sat in a bus with a team of three girls from Iowa & a guy from Australia. He went on and on, quite hilariously, about seeing Target for the first time. The deodorant aisle astounded him . . . it took him an hour to pick out deodorant. And Australia isn’t exactly a third world country.
As someone who worked in TCBY as his first “real job,” the money, in ice cream, is in the toppings. It’s, seriously, criminal . . . charge 25¢ for what costs the owner about a penny, and people will line up for it.
I’d think I’d stand in line to pay 75¢ for ice cream if you made it . . . vanilla please, on a sugar cone, as I laugh at the person who paid ten times the amount for their wafflecone filled with enough gunk that the ice cream will be melted by the time they actually get to eat any of it.
Vanilla is my favorite too.
This is why I don’t shop or go to Starbucks or take my kids for ice cream/frozen yogurt or anything.
(Well, partly this and also I’m lazy, cheap and a tiny bit agoraphobic.)
I know.
Meanest mom ever.
But seriously. The side effect of my issues is that my kids have no expectations.
They also maybe don’t have fun.
But. It’s a risk I’m willing to take.
I would appreciate it if you would at least give your daughter 4 outfits to chose from…this isn’t the 1800′s you know?
xoxo
sign me up as a frequent visitor of that shop. it’s the simple things in life. the simple things that mean the most. like plain ole scoop of chocolate ice cream (ok i admit my fave is chocalte peanut butter) on a sugar cone.
Your kids are not alone eating their one scoop. One frozen yogurt place near us doesn’t even advertise the “kid’s size.” You have to ask for it. I’ve lowered my daughter’s expectations so much that when I go on a business trip the only treat she expects me to bring her (and even that doesn’t always happen) is a pack of gum from the airport. And she’s super happy with that! Oh and yes, I’d be at your ice-cream store anytime! Thanks!
Oh I love this. And I love “lowering their expectations..” Exactly.xo
I was just thinking in a similar vein, of how we have so many choices, yet actually choose so few things. We’ve got XM radio in one of our vehicles, with hundreds of stations. But the radio only has room for 12 pre-sets, and guess what, we don’t even use them all. We listen to the same 5 choices. So really, what’s the point of all those options?
I love this post so much.
Lady, as always, you’ve hit the nail on the head. And made me laugh out loud in so doing.
Brava!! Love it.
Yes, I agree. I worry about it all the time..when is enough..well enough? I am just as spoiled as any other person these days. I love XM radio, I use a professional shampoo and I do have about 15 pairs of black shoes. But I didn’t always and I want Gio and Jacob to know that some things are treats…and you’ll be rewarded for some things on some days.
Even my love of cupcakes …I mean I don’t need the ones from Crumbs or Magnolia…I don’t need a cupcake that I must stand in line for and pay 5 bucks to eat. The ones I bake myself or get at the grocery store for a dollar are my favorites anyway. Smaller, delectable…just sweet enough….to give me a treat. Xo
I agree with you on the cupcakes completely…although you could mail a Magnolia one to me anytime… xo
If I remember my Little House correctly, ice cream was a once-a-year treat at the church carnival along with lemonade.
And every Christmas my mother reminded us that the Ingalls girls got a tin cup, a penny and a peppermint stick.
I am all for downsizing Christmas presents, but I think birthdays should have a pile of presents. I don’t really understand my rationale, but I just remember the excitement of the pile and knowing how much it meant people thought about me.
I love your rational for birthdays. They should be celebrated!
I would for the chocolate and my hubby for the vanilla…..we still prefer simple. Love this post.
I agree, we do have too many choices.
i heard you. i find it’s even worse at the frozen yogurt places with the buffet line of toppings. my kids go nuts if i even think of trying to prevent the excess.
sigh.
also, perhaps, if we admit it… first world problems?
Completely – first world problem.
Seriously, I thought it was a great day when my mom let me get sprinkles on my ice cream! That is probably why I went overload when I was allowed to make the choice by myself!
I would love a simple ice cream shop with two flavors. Make that three— coffee. Oh- and can we have chocolate sprinkles? Then I’m good.
We have a place around the corner named 16 Handles which is serve yourself yogurt and toppings. The cups are TREMENDOUS and it is truly disgusting watching all the college kids go to town.
Okay coffee ice cream with sprinkles – but JUST for you. Don’t tell anyone.
Life has become complicated. It is up to us to simplify it.
We have a place near us that sell only chocolate and vanilla soft serve. They have lot of toppings and lots of traffic. The small cone is $1.25.
You’re mean, like me. I like that!
m.
I know. I love being mean. xo
I would come but I really don;t like ice cream that much. Except one flavor and it is not chocolate or vanilla. But I would still come for you.
And I am totally with you. It is crazy how there are so many options and yet still people can’t be happy with what they have.
It is a theme I am really working on with my kids lately.
I am always amazed at how we’ve managed to complicate something as simple and perfect as a cone of ice cream. Sour Patch Kids in Chocolate Peanut Butter ice cream? Yuck. And those suckers get hard enough to break teeth once they come in contact with something cold. I don’t get it. I agree…keep it simple!
I think about this sometimes. You see it all over. A simple chocolate cake doesn’t seem to be good enough anymore. You have to have the dark swiss chocolate with raspberries topped with some kind of liquor infused ganache. You know? Sometimes just chocolate cake is good. Really most times it is.
[...] collective lack of empathy and compassion, she noted how its excesses are contributing to an overall sense of ingratitude and entitlement. But in the end, I think we were both attempting to make the same point: We’re all generally [...]
absolute truth, and every point you make resonates with it! i agree with you… and yes, even though i do love banana splits, i’d come for the plain vanilla any day because simple joys are the best
A lot of the choices are just not available here. It’s still just plain ole croissant or pain au chocolat. (or croissant aux amandes).
Although you can get earl grey ice cream at Berthillon.
Many, many a grateful parent would come. It’s just exhausting dealing with anyone (including myself) when there are too many choices involved. There is a pile of research now showing that it paralyzes us and makes it harder for us to make the right decisions or any decision at all. The sweet relief of two choices and for a great price? I’ll take it!
[...] Remember when going for ice cream was just going for ice cream? A single or a double in a sugar cone? Tracy of Sellabit Mum remembers those days before we had the choice of 352 TV channels and 58 types of mints at the CVS check-out lane. Sure, it’s nice to be able to choose between the 5,789 pairs of black pumps available online, but what effect does that have on our children? In Tracy’s words: I Blame our Ungrateful Society on Baskin Robbins. [...]
I confess I did not read the huge selection of comments (I only watch five channels including Home and Garden and The Weather Channel). However, just in case nobody else said it, this is why we have moms, specifically moms like you.
Good job and great post!
[...] collective lack of empathy and compassion, she noted how its excesses are contributing to an overall sense of ingratitude and entitlement. But in the end, I think we were both attempting to make the same point: We’re all generally [...]