“Baby，今天是 Good Friday，我们庆祝一下吧。要不然，我们去买你昨天说的冰淇淋蛋糕？”
“不要，我只想在家。”
娃儿一副不想出门的样子。
没想到还没过一分钟，他就改变主意了：
“我们去吧！”
“好，那我们去换衣服！”
我回答得很快——希望他少看一点电视。
我们在考虑去离家近的 Walmart，还是更远一点的 Publix。
娃儿说：
“要不然先去 Walmart 吧，离我们近，如果没有再去 Publix。”
没想到一会儿他又改口了：
“要不然直接去 Publix，如果没有的话，再开到离我们近的 Walmart。”说完又轻声念叨着，Asher是全宇宙最聪明的孩子。
我心想：什么话都被你说完了。
当然，我没说出口。
我就顺着他的意，先去 Publix。
“那去哪家 Publix 呢？哪家离我们最近？”我问。
“去那家旁边有麦当劳的吧！”他说。
“好，那我设一下 GPS。”
这时候，我发现有一家只要开六分钟。
我说：“要不然去这家吧，另一家要十五分钟。”
他很干脆：
“好！”
到了 Publix，我们先去拿一个免费的饼干。
“咦，今天怎么多了一种口味？”娃儿问。
“是啊。”我说。
“我要 sprinkle 的这种！”他对工作人员说。
“Easter 的 sprinkle 吗？”工作人员确认。
他点了点头。
刚进超市，娃儿已经找到了冰淇淋蛋糕的位置。
可选择不多。
我问工作人员还有没有别的款式。
对方说，除非提前预订，不然都在这了。
我看了一下价格：
最小的 $18
圆形的 $26
小长方形 $21
大长方形 $34
圆形最好看，但很小。
小长方形量多，还便宜五块。
娃儿开始纠结。
过了一会儿他说：
“虽然圆形看着最好看，但我们是买来吃的，不是用来看的。
而且这个还便宜五块，我不想你花太多钱。
要不然我们买 $21 这个吧。”
我说：
“如果你觉得好看，就选你喜欢的。
喜欢最重要。
你确定要这个吗？”
他很干脆：
“嗯！”
于是我们不再纠结，直接去结账。
排了好一会儿，工作人员说：
“$34.99。”
我一愣：
“不是 $21 吗？那边写着 $21。”
确认之后才发现——
我们看错了。
我说：“那我们再去看看。”
我们又回去比了一下价格。
结果发现：
最大的 $37.88 反而最划算。
我说：
“要不然我们就买最大的吧。
最划算，而且我们也不是经常买蛋糕。”
他说：
“好！”
于是，我们抱了一大块蛋糕回家。
我说：
“要不然我们假装今天是我们的生日吧。
复活节，就是重生的意思。”
他说：
“好！”
于是，我们在客厅里，唱起了生日歌。
婷妈的亲子日常 创作于 2026.04.03
原创发布： tingtingma.com
写给孩子，也写给正在成长的大人。
未经授权，请勿转载。
Tingma’s Parenting Diary | 227.
It Wasn’t Our Birthday, But We Sang Anyway**
“Baby, today is Good Friday. Let’s celebrate a little.
How about we go get the ice cream cake you mentioned yesterday?”
“No, I just want to stay home.”
He looked like he had no interest in going out.
But less than a minute later, he changed his mind:
“Let’s go.”
“Okay, let’s get changed!”
I answered quickly—hoping he would watch less TV.
We were deciding whether to go to the closer Walmart or the farther Publix.
He said,
“Maybe we go to Walmart first since it’s closer. If they don’t have it, then we go to Publix.”
A moment later, he changed his mind again:
“Or maybe we go to Publix first. If they don’t have it, we can drive back to Walmart.”
Then he quietly murmured to himself,
“Asher is the smartest kid in the universe.”
I thought to myself,
You’ve already said everything.
Of course, I didn’t say that out loud.
So I followed his lead—we headed to Publix.
“Which Publix should we go to? Which one is the closest?” I asked.
“The one next to McDonald’s,” he said.
“Okay, I’ll set the GPS.”
That’s when I noticed another location only six minutes away.
“How about this one? It’s just six minutes. The other one is fifteen.”
“Okay!” he said without hesitation.
At Publix, we grabbed a free cookie first.
“Huh? Why is there a new flavor today?” he asked.
“Yeah, I see that too,” I said.
“I want the one with sprinkles!” he told the staff.
“The Easter sprinkles?” the staff member asked.
He nodded.
As soon as we walked in, he had already found the ice cream cake section.
But there weren’t many choices.
I asked if there were more options.
The staff said unless we pre-ordered, that was all they had.
I looked at the prices:
- Small: $18
- Round: $26
- Small rectangle: $21
- Large rectangle: $34
The round one looked the nicest, but it was small.
The small rectangular one had more quantity and was five dollars cheaper.
He started hesitating.
After a while, he said:
“Even though the round one looks the best, we’re buying it to eat, not to look at.
And this one is five dollars cheaper. I don’t want you to spend too much money.
Let’s get the $21 one.”
I said:
“If you like how something looks, you should choose what you like.
What you like matters most.
Are you sure you want this one?”
He answered firmly:
“Yeah.”
So we stopped debating and went to check out.
After waiting in line for quite a while, the cashier said:
“$34.99.”
I froze.
“Wait, isn’t it $21? It said $21 over there.”
After checking, we realized—we had read it wrong.
I said, “Let’s go take another look.”
We went back and compared again.
It turned out the largest one, at $37.88, was actually the best value.
I said:
“How about we just get the biggest one?
It’s the best deal, and we don’t buy cake that often.”
He said:
“Okay!”
So we carried a big cake home.
I said:
“How about we pretend today is our birthday?
Easter is about rebirth, after all.”
He said:
“Okay!”
And so, in our living room,
we sang the birthday song.
Tingma’s Parenting Diary
Written on April 3, 2026
Originally published at: tingtingma.com
Written for my child, and for the adults who are still growing.
Unauthorized reproduction is prohibited.
Originally written in Chinese by the author.
This English version was translated with the assistance of ChatGPT.