I ordered for my daughter while she was still reading the menu

The server asked my eight-year-old what she wanted. I said grilled cheese.

She was pointing at the menu.

I told the server she always had grilled cheese, which was true enough to sound helpful. My daughter put the menu down and waited until the server left.

“I was going to ask what came with the noodles.”

I said we could still change the order. She said she didn't want me to ask. She wanted to ask herself.

There were people waiting at the entrance. I could hear dishes moving behind us. I had decided that everyone needed a fast answer and volunteered the answer I knew.

Nobody had actually told us to hurry.

When the server came back with water, my daughter asked about the noodles. Then she ordered them. I started explaining that we had changed our minds, and she looked at me until I stopped.

The food arrived. She liked some of it and left some. I nearly asked whether grilled cheese would have been better. Apparently I was ready to use her plate to defend a decision she hadn't made.

My husband said he didn't see the problem because the order got changed. I can see his point about the meal. The noodles reached the table. No great wrong remained in the kitchen.

But she had been addressed directly, and I had treated the question as mine.

Next time, I can let a pause stay a pause. If she needs help, I'm beside her. I don't have to audition as the person who knows her order before she does.

She wants to go back. She also wants the big menu instead of the children's one. I suspect our efficient little lunch is about to take longer.