I actually let myself believe today. The Boy, having taken his Hallowe'en candy into the living room to sort through and pick a piece, continued to cradle the plastic cauldron full of candy and was caught a very few minute later having had a second piece. I almost took the cauldron away then and even asked him to bring it to the kitchen. He told me he wanted to keep it with him on the sofa because he wanted, "to keep it company." I couldn't possibly take it away then and warned him yet again against eating more candy. I was cooking supper, and it's hard enough to get healthy food in him without him having taken up valuable hunger with empty calories and sugar. And yes he had the third piece of candy as well.
On the upside, the part of his supper that was healthy vegetables disappeared entirely while the meaty, cheesy other part sits cold and uneaten on the table. And that reminds me that I've let those two bowls sit on the table for way too long. I was intending to have the boys carry their own dishes into the kitchen, but having continued to forget to do so has allowed me to completely forget to do it myself.
I find myself looking forward to tomorrow which is Saturday, the soonest anyone reading this would read it, so perhaps today for you. Either way, the crappy story to follow doesn't suck less because I'm more accurate with my wording from your point of view. And to make matters worse it isn't tomorrow so much as that there's no soccer to get up early for.
That shouldn't be a sad story after eight weeks of Saturdays beginning at eight in the morning. And it's not the soccer because I have so much fun on those sixteen Saturdays a year. The sad part is that spring and fall soccer season are the only time I regularly have to get up at any point on any day. That it's a Saturday shouldn't really come into play, but for some reason it does.
I hate getting up. I hate being told I have to get up more than anything. I actually find, as I'm in those first moments of dopey near consciousness, the dark time when I'm aren't quite thinking right, loathing everything around that could possibly have had to do with my having to be awake. As I finally get honestly awake, I get over it, and then I get to the fields and see the kids and it's WHEE HOO, soccer time! So it's worth it, but that first little moment of the morning . . .
And there you have it. Two stories in one. Each equally having taken minutes you'll never get back. Lessons? Don't listen to a four year old saying he won't eat any of the candy he has lovingly cradled in his arms. Don't wake me up! Ever! or better yet, if for some reason you have to, ignore me for at least fifteen minutes and give me coffee. For fuck sake don't ever underestimate the power of a cup of coffee, preferably a dark roast and straight out of the French press.
8 comments:
hahahah, I have three kids so I definately read this story nodding my head and smiling.
Yep, you can never trust a kid with candy and "I promise I won't!" songs. No matter how sad and earnest they are looking :)
I also know what you mean about being woken up. Urgh. just thinking about it, I hate that brain-fogginess and it hurts your head. Early mornings suck.
So coffee = good, candy = bad?
It's a wonder the kids don't think we're all nuts.
Nance
Great point, Nance, if a bit of a simplification of the matter. Candy doesn't equal bad so much as it equals less good as we eat more of it. At the same time, my cup of coffee tends to become more than that. It is equally unhealthy, whether or not I really like having to admit it. At the same time I could even bring up points concerning addiction if you were willing to push this idea that far, though I can't imagine I really want to go all that way.
Coffee equals, not so much good but represents so much more with the caffeine not to be dismissed. Candy equals sooooooo tasty but with the potential to bring a near immediate sickness for my child. Coffee's true danger would lie in the accumulation over time of negative effects that may or may not manifest themselves in any number of future issues.
And if the kids read all of that and don't think we're nuts then A) we're doing something right or B) there's no hope whatsoever.
"near immediate sickness" for your child?
Maybe a Halloween bucket o' candy isn't such a good idea if there's a real medical condition involved.
Sorry I didn't know that was the case.
Nance
Nance, don't feel bad. I didn't mean to make it seem that bad. It isn't a medical condition as far as we are aware. The near immediate sickness was a bit of an exaggeration in that, in the past, when he's eaten himself sick on unhealthy food it's always been so sudden. We think he's fine, often not realizing how poorly he's ended up eating, and before we know it, he's queasy and nauseous and we're realizing that we've seen this before.
I could tell the story of last Thanksgiving at Nanaw's house. We fixed him a plate of healthy food that he picked at. He wanted candy and dessert instead, and considering the holiday and Nanaw's house we gave it the "aw shucks" and just let him go. He ate himself sick. He's done that a couple of other times over the last couple of years.
So it's not a medical problem. It's an overall battle to keep some amount of healthy food going into him while trying to find a balance that he's okay with because he does love candy and cake and ice cream, and we don't want to deny him so much as help him learn for himself how he needs to eat.
And I really did appreciate your first comment. It caused me to look at the situation from a different angle, always a bonus!
Forgive me Samuel for taking over here but Nance this is the real equation:
For Parents:
coffee = good
candy = good
For Kids:
coffee = bad
candy = bad
coffee candy = ambiguous and perhaps....
My children know I'm insane but their education is top notch and they'll be able to afford plenty o' therapy.
I hear copious amounts of coffee help prevent Parkinson's disease later in life. So drink up buddy.
I hope your blog doesn't have an alarm system to notify you that you've gotten a comment, because that could wake you up inadvertently!
Seriously, sounds like winter is kicking in in your mind now. The dreaded routine. The mayhem. The onslaught of sweets.
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