Katie has "preferences" when it comes to pizza. Jake too, I guess.

It's kind of sad when your kid is old enough to have a preference about her pizza toppings and the preference doesn't include mushrooms or pineapple... which happen to be your* favorites.  Your two favorite  toppings that you usually only order when you don't have to pay a million dollars extra for them... (Plug for Papa Johns... we've been milking this deal for all it's worth!)

* And by "your" I mean "mine."

Soo, I placed my usual order a few weeks ago; pepperoni, pineapple, mushroom, extra cheese.  Yum, right?

Pizza arrived, we're seated and ready to dig in, Katie takes her first bite and... her face scrunches up. 

I thought she bit her lip or something, but no.  She got a bite of pineapple.  She informs me that she does not like pineapple.

I removed all pineapple from her pizza before she would continue to eat. 

Next bite, again with the face scrunch.  She asks what "those dark things are".  I inform her that those are yummy mushrooms (in my excited, happy mommy voice). 

She informs me that she does not like mushroom. 

I inform her that there is no way I can remove the mushroom... the teeny, tiny baby pieces of mushroom.  So she ate it but she didn't like it.

I ordered pizza again a couple of weeks ago.  Again with my faves.  But I ordered half mushroom, half pineapple thinking that she could eat from the mushroom half. 

Forgetting that both were on her "ick" list because she did eat the mushrooms last time.  I distinctly remembered that she hated the pineapple (because I spent time picking each piece off), but really?  Mushrooms?  They're so small I could hardly taste them!  Luckily, they were so small she could barely see them.  She ate the pizza and I sighed a sigh of relief.

Now, last night (and yes, I know we order pizza a lot but it's good for two meals... when we order on Friday night, we eat leftovers for lunch on Saturday afternoon) I ordered from a different place (John wanted a change) and went to pick it up. 

(We've had it delivered before from this place but it occurred to me last night that they're located less than 5 minutes away so I could save on the delivery fee and tip by getting in the car in the freezing cold and picking it up.  Money saved is money spent on our next pizza order.  Duh.)

I pulled into the parking lot and saw a Chinese restaurant just two doors down and it was as if my legs wouldn't listen to my brain. 

I was telling myself "pick up pizza... must. pick. up. pizza." but my legs must have wanted some cream cheese won tons.  Which I purchased.  And debated opening the bag for a taste, as I walked the long stretch of sidewalk to the pizza place two doors down.  I didn't open them (I waited till I was in the car because I knew that once I started eating, I wouldn't want to stop eating and it would have been way too hard to juggle the open bag plus the pizza). 

So, I paid for the pizza and headed for the car.  Enjoyed a won ton (or two) and the peace and quiet in the car, sighed a deep breath, and headed home.

I was super excited because I had gotten half mushroom and half pineapple (half and half because at this place, extra toppings were not free).  When I opened the box I was surprised to see huge mushrooms the size of the peperoni slices.  I did not expect that.  I hoped I could fly these under the Katie "radar" like last time.  And I tried.  And Katie took a bite and asked what those dark things were. 

She did not like them.  She would not eat them.

She did like daddy's pizza.  Thin crust with pepperoni and ... onions.

But the drama is not over... oh no.  Jake took a bite of his pizza... a piece with delicious pineapple. 

And he promptly spit it into his hand.  Then dropped it on the floor. 

Arg. 

The pineapple strikes again.