An Important Message About Your Health

Today I took Merritt to Starbucks where we met up with a friend of mine. By the way, this is how I envisioned maternity leave - I'd get together with friends every other day or so for fun chats over lattes, or I'd read a book, sipping an americano, while holding my quietly sleeping babe. Needless to say, other than today's outing, this has not been my reality.

In any event, while I failed to photodocument Merritt's first Starbucks visit, I did manage to pick up a funny story. (Parentheticals will indicate what was actually going on in my head during this interaction.) After I ordered my coffee, the zealously friendly barista asked me if the baby needed to order any milk. I politely declined. (Dude, what are you thinking? You don't give cows milk to little babies!) Then he proceeded to caution me against ever giving my child coffee before the age of 16 because, apparently, it can cause liver damage. This health lecture went on for quite some time, as if I'd protested his warnings, or perhaps asked for further clarification. I just stood there quietly nodding my head and smiling agreeably. (Did I drink coffee before I was 16? Oh yeah, my parents let me have those International Foods coffee mixes. Yumm, Swiss Mocha...does that actually count as coffee? Probably not, but anyway, mental note made about coffee and kids not mixing. Will I have liver problems now? Don't think about that. However, I will be a responsible parent, just like this guy says, even if he's the same guy who just offered milk to my 8 week old.)

Merritt slept through her entire first Starbucks experience. Guess she could've used a mochachino.