I had forgotten how good graham crackers could taste. And Cheerios, and Goldfish, and animal crackers, and every other crunchy, carby kid food.
Until I had a toddler.
It’s not just the flavor, either. It’s the crackly bag, the tantalizing smell, the convenient thereness. Irresistible. And I can’t eat any of it. Not if I want my morning milk, evening chocolate, or, say, lunch.
But it’s hard to turn down tempting treats when you’ve got a two-year-old snack pusher in your household. Sunshine’s not subtle, either. Like my grandmother, her namesake, she’s a high-impact sharer who hates to eat alone. And I’m her preferred dining partner – or at least the most convenient one.
Each time I break out Sunshine’s snacks, she pinches a few in her fidgety fingers and sweetly offers them to me. When I turn her down, she tries again, pushing the crackers against my hands, my mouth. She chants, “Share! Share!” and eats a bite herself, then waves the gnawed-on remains in front of my eyes. After all, if she loves them, then Mommy will, too, right? (Yes. Unfortunately.)
A short quiz, plus a confession: Do you know how hard it is not to share with a two-year-old who wants to snack with you? (Answer: Impossible.) Do you know how hard it is to turn down a Goldfish when its cheddar essence has brushed against your lips and hovered under your nose? (Answer: Even more impossible.) The truth: I want those snacks even more than she wants to feed them to me.
When I am strong, I clench my lips shut, and force myself to smile, and praise Sunshine for being nice. I mentally count my calories, subtracting exercise, adding dinner. How many in a handful of Goldfish? (Answer: 140.) How many in one animal cracker? No, strike that. Three animal crackers? (Because eating just one is the most impossible feat of all. Oh, and by the way? 23.) How many in the Cheerios Sunshine just offered me? (Answer: x times the number of Cheerios, minus y, wherein x is Sunshine’s determination and y is my ability to adhere to my diet.)
When I am weak, which is often, I take the proffered food. Sunshine grins, thrilled with my choice. I chew and mentally praise the goodness of crunchy snacks, trying not to regret them before I’ve even swallowed.
I want Sunshine to share. I want her to be generous and giving. I want her to say, “Yours!” instead of “Mine!” I want her to have a healthy relationship with food, whatever that means.
And, oh, God, I want to eat those Honey Grahams.
I just want not to be a blimp tomorrow.
Life is like this, a constant weighing of good vs. bad, a never-ending list of choices. And, frankly, most are bigger than whether or not to ingest twenty-three calories’ worth of crunchy circus animals. Like which prom dress to wear. Which subject to major in. Which person to marry, which house to buy, which book to write next. When to have children.
So when I do give in to Sunshine’s enthusiastic, pushy-grandma ways, I try to see her goofy smile and not the calories. And I remind myself that, well, at least we’re not choosing colleges. Yet.
What a cute post! I remember those days so well. I’ve never been a fan of my kids’ germs, so I always refused the snacks from their hands. LOL. Never knew where those hands had been. Plus, there was nothing more gross than picking up a snack that should have been crispy only to find it a tad bit moist.
My youngest is in kindergarten this year, so the snacks-on-the-go thing should be far past me, but, it’s not. Today I found myself with a little tupperware container of multigrain Cheerios in the car. And it was just for me. LOL. Cheerios are such a great snack. They certainly know how to do their marketing. 🙂
Thanks for the chuckle. I loved your post. And it was so very easy to imagine.
I share all the time today, but I can’t recall if I was a sharer as a youngster.
My students sometimes share things with me–pencils, food, stickers, some of which I decline (no eating in class).
Such a sweet post. I’m glad I stopped by.
Ah, Goldfish. It doesn’t matter how many times I tell myself I’ll put some in a bowl for my kidlets without eating a single one, I grab a handful for me. They are addictive.
From one mom to another, great post!
Thanks! I do the same thing with the Goldfish! It was especially bad in the beginning, when I hadn’t had any for years and they were brand new again.
So sweet! I remember very clearly my daughter stuffing wet cheerios in my mouth whether i wanted them or not. LOL I’m heading for that all over again, but what a joy!
You’re pregnant?!? Woohoo! Congratulations! I missed this earlier because I haven’t been on blogs very much. (I’ve been writing, writing, writing.) I hope it goes well and you’re feeling all right. So cool!
Ah, how true. It’s especially funny you mention graham crackers which on desperate nights that I have to have dessert (like half the nights of the week at least) I end up eating a few sheets with a handful of chocolate chips. It’s a sad dessert made up of what’s around the house! And I know the calories too since I’m using myfitnesspal on my iPhone these days. Ugh!
Thought I’d return the wonderful favor of your visiting my blog. I haven’t enough time to read all of your comments here, so I’m sure this was already said, but your lovely daughter’s act of sharing her snacks with you obliterates the calories thereof, so don’t worry!
As a teacher, I’m surrounded by Goldfish, Tackis, Oreos, and Teddy Grahams all day long. I’m also a stress eater. So guess what? During the school year, I gain 5-10 pounds. It comes off in the summer, then come September, and all those yummo snacks, I start gaining it back. The joys of being around kids, eh? Thanks for a fun post!
@Tuere – Sunshine loves those, too! They’re harder to take places, though, because they crumble more easily. (Or maybe it’s just the whole wheat ones we get.) I should start using those instead, though. Eating them makes me think of being sick, so they’re not as tempting. Hmmm. Might have to do that!
@Carole – We do try to be careful with what we eat, but sometimes we’re out for an entire morning, and Sunshine just needs a quick something. I don’t want her to have food poisoning from eating old apples and cheese, and I’d much rather give her Cheerios or Whole Wheat crackers than fast food.
@Robin – LOL! (Especially the bit about being a bottomless pit and not supposed to be growing.) I forgot to mention pretzels and popcorn in this post. Those are also great take-along snacks. We use the unsalted pretzels, which is great because they’re not nearly as tempting for me and they’re better for Sunshine. And, no, I haven’t tried the peanut butter / graham cracker combo. Sounds delicious!
@Liz – We keep expecting Sunshine to become very picky. I’m sure that time will come soon, in fact. I love that your daughter dresses you in stickers and barrettes, too. So cute! I you feel so GORGEOUS after that!
@Kim – Thanks for stopping by! LOL at picking up a snack that’s supposed to be crunchy and finding out it’s moist instead. That happens to me sometimes, and eeewwww! When I do take from Sunshine’s stash, I usually dig under the top layers for something fresh, and I try not to let her actually feed me (though that doesn’t always work).
@Medeia – I’m glad you stopped by, too! Your students sound so sweet! When I was teaching I had a few who tried to share. Some were just being nice. Others seemed to think that if they could get me to eat in class, they’d be able to as well. I always declined their snack offers, too.
@Nina – I love MyFitnessPal! Well, I love that it does help me lose weight. I hate actually having to hold back, and it’s awful to slink in after a bad day and enter all those calories. Ugh. But it’s been working for me, so it’s not all bad! And I love your graham cracker + chocolate chips idea. Sounds delicious! I like the individually wrapped Ghiradelli chocolate squares, or something similar. I dole out one to myself and that’s what I get to have in the evening.
@12Tequilas – Thanks for reciprocating! And for the consolation. Hey, at least she’s sharing instead of grabbing them all and saying, “Mine! Mine!” So that’s great.
@Suzanne – That’s fascinating! I bet it’s especially bad in the time between Halloween and Christmas, when there always seems to be stuff to snack on in the teachers’ lounge. (Or maybe that was just our lounge when I was teaching!) I actually gained weight when I wasn’t teaching, because I could eat whatever I wanted for lunch instead of the sensible lunches I used to pack for myself. Plus I could snack whenever I wanted. It was a lot easier to diet when I didn’t have access to all that food!