Office visit

On occasion, one or both of my girls will be dropped off at the office. Maybe because her sister has a doctor or dentist visit. Maybe because She-Who-Is-Trying-To-Run-A-Business has a mid-day client meeting. The latter was the reason for the most recent lunchtime visit from both children.

To get to my first floor office, we must go through the lobby, and every trip through the lobby is accompanied by a plea to play restaurant. In the center of the lobby is a large table, with a decorative vase on top. The space underneath is the restaurant.

“I’ll do food, and Reesa does drinks,” Genevieve announces.

“Yeah,” Reesa chirps, taking her place at her own window. “What do you want?”

“A veggie burger, waldorf salad, and ice tea.”

“Oh, okay, umm…we don’t have that,” Genevieve informs me. “Our food menu is there, and the drinks are on that menu.” She points to the building directory, and a sign for the health clinic on an upper floor.

“I see. Do you still have macaroni and cheese?”

“I have your drink, daddy.” Reesa either has ice tea for me, or didn’t want to wait anymore.

“Yes, we do have macaroni and cheese. Here you go.” Genevieve does not want to miss her part.

“Thank you. Here’s the money.” I give them air money.

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Once inside the department cube farm, they go from cube to cube looking for the stuffed animals and saying hello to my co-workers. We go to the break room to eat lunch.

“Can we pretend it’s a cafeteria, daddy?”

“Sure…”

Twenty-five minutes, some food and a potty break later, it is clear that we need to leave the office. We bundle into our coats and head across the street for something better than a shopping mall on a cold winter day — the hospital skybridge.

I work close to a hospital with a heated, carpeted, windowed, enclosed pedestrian bridge that spans a busy city artery. It is a perfect to go with young kids to burn off some ya-ya’s. On another day, we might even go all the way over to the hospital to go eat in a real cafeteria. But fifteen minutes on the bridge and She-Who-Had-A-Successful-Meeting is on her way to pick up the kids, and I am soon on my way back to another meeting.