Hey Rachel
So I'm strolling through the grocery store aisles doing my weekly shop and I get to the candy aisle and have a little epiphany. While I always said that the candy drawer was about having options for my kids (see post here), actually it was about me. I realized as I strolled past the Kit Kats and M&Ms and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups that the candy drawer was a way for me to have candy in the house but not actually have it be about my interest/need in having candy available. No, see I was doing this for my children. I was doing this because it was a way of giving them candy. The fact that I might occasionally actually taste a piece was completely secondary. This was about providing them with a little snack.
Yeah right.
Now that we are empty nesters, I no longer have an excuse. I am either going to buy candy BECAUSE I AM GOING TO EAT IT or we won't have any.
It was a sobering moment. Between me and my partner I am definitely the one who succombs to the sugar surge. I am (sadly) married to a man with tremendous fortitude. He weighs the same (or less!!!!!) as he did when we met, and has eaten a half sandwich and piece of fruit for lunch for DECADES. In other words, if I am going to buy candy for the candy drawer, I have to admit that I am buying it for myself, which then means I am going to eat it. Will I let myself eat it? I don't know. It's complicated.
I will say this: On this trip, I did not buy anything. I did, however, come home and make my mother's cream cheese pie. I may, or may not, have a piece for breakfast. I'm just saying.
Love
Mom
A mother and daughter dish and cook their way through life, one recipe at a time.
My own relationship with candy is a bit different. I, too, am fond of sweets, and since I have a typical post-menopausal metabolism (i.e., I look at a gooey dessert and gain weight), I can't afford to eat them in quantity. So I try to have something around that I can eat just a little of -- one cookie, say, or a couple of small pieces of candy. Sometimes it works, and sometimes I con myself into having more than a little.
ReplyDeleteSomehow, I doubt that at the end of my life I'm going to be thinking, "Gee, I wish I'd eaten less candy."
Sarah
ReplyDeleteAh, the post-menopausal metabolism--the gift that keeps on giving. I SO agree with you about the end of life thing (it applies to so much besides candy, but candy is certainly one of the critical categories to keep in mind). I haven't given up the candy drawer; I'm just more aware of who it's for. :)
Thanks for reading
Janet