Of Junk Food and Profile Pictures

Talking to the kids about junk food the other day made me wonder what they would do if I let them buy any food they wanted from the store. We eat pretty healthy around here. Lots of fresh fruit, very little processed food and refined sugars. Sure, they have a candy jar, but they eat one piece of candy out of it a couple of times a week. I put a chocolate kiss in their lunches. One dark chocolate kiss. 

But then I told them about my eating habits in high school. There was mention of a candy bar every morning during homeroom. At least one and more frequently two Dr Peppers a day. Partner chimed in with stories of bags of potato chips and french onion dip consumed in a single afternoon. Plus lots of soda and ice cream. There was a story about whole chickens in there too, but that’s not junk food. Anyway, they were amazed that we would eat this way. 

So I started asking them, if I got out of the way and they wanted junk food, what would they buy? Chips? Soda? Candy? Ice cream? Maybe I should have stopped there. 

Today I may have taken leave of my senses. This was a short, chaotic week of school. Today was a fun, busy, unpredictable, tiring day. On the way home this evening, at ten to five, I took them into the grocery store and gave them each five bucks and told them to buy whatever junk food they wanted. Here’s what they got…

Sonar X5: Chocolate Rice Quakes ($1), Lock Jaw 7-piece Sour-Sweet Candy Pack ($1), Beef jerky ($1), Tiny Mango Sorbet ($1), Tiny Cookie Dough Ice Cream ($1). 

Sonar X7: French Onion Dip ($0.79), Potato chips ($1), Warheads Sour Spray ($1), Pint of Rocky Road Ice Cream ($1.72).

Sonar X10: Can of salt and vinegar Pringles ($1.50), Lock Jaw 7-piece Sour-Sweet Candy Pack ($1), Blue Raspberry Pop Rocks ($0.50), Pint of Butter Crunch Ice Cream ($1.72).

We don’t keep any of these foods in the house. Once every couple of months or so I’ll buy some chips and dip. Likewise with the ice cream. The rest, no way.

After dinner I let them rip into their new stashes. They were surprisingly thoughtful and generous, sharing tastes of their stuff with each other, talking together about this little party. Some they tasted, some they decided to save for holiday traveling. They tortured me with Pop Rocks. While they were doing this, I tried to take a new profile picture in my Mom shirt. It was a tricky shot. Mainly because monkeys kept popping into it. 

Contrived profile shot interrupted by Sonar X10

Contrived profile shot interrupted by Sonar X7

Contrived profile shot interrupted by Sonar X5

Hey look, the uninterrupted contrived profile shot

After they got all sugared up, and really, truly, and thoroughly tired, one meltdown ensued. Maybe they can wait to buy their own junk food in college.  

Lest you think I'm sitting around crying into my muffins, Part 1

Note:  This was supposed to be a recent picture of Sonar X8 in his Christmas getup.  For some reason that other one won’t load.  So instead you get this delightful substitute from five-hundred years ago.  He’s still this cute sometimes.  

Sonar X8 and his classmates have recently read The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo.  Lovely book.  Like many good books, especially ones for children, this one has been made into a movie, which opens in U.S. theaters today.  

Today also happens to be the last day of school before the two-and-a-half week Winter Holiday, and an early dismissal day at that.  The classes are having their holiday parties and puzzle exchanges and chaos-inducing whatnot.  

The third grade teachers decided that the coincidence of all of these things—book, movie, party day—was just too much to pass up and gave a call to our lovely, independently-owned, local movie theater and arranged a nine a.m. screening of The Tale of Despereaux for the entire third grade.  

To make this work, the third graders are having a holiday breakfast, and skipping the holiday assembly (a performance of Christmas standards by the fourth graders).  First thing this morning, they got hopped up on donuts, candy canes and cookies (and yes, milk, OJ, and pigs in a blanket), then 120 third graders and their teachers and aides boarded yellow dogs to drive a half mile to the theater.  

(I wonder about the choice to use buses for this trip, since the buses have to drive about a half mile from the school to the theater, but if the kids walked through the municipal park between the school and theater, they’d have to trek about a quarter of a mile.  Perhaps they were worried about the weather.  Or potential escapees.  No telling.)  

As we speak, Sonar X8 and his classmates are among the first children to see the new film, a fact that they giggled about so deliciously, as if they were getting away with something.  While at the theater, they’ll get a fresh injection of popcorn and soda and then go back to school for a nutritious lunch.  Ha.  

Supposedly the teachers are going to haul them all back to the classrooms after that for some kind of “Compare and Contrast” activity.  Should they attempt this activity (as opposed to sending them outside for recess for the rest of the day) I think they might need to be certified.  Should they succeed, I think I’ll have to send them a bottle of bourbon to sooth their frayed nerves.  

Luckily they’ll have sixteen, third-grader-free days to recover.  

Many thanks

I am, perhaps, a few days late on my thankfulness list here, but I think it’s probably ok to be thankful on other days of the year besides Thanksgiving Day.  I am thankful for a lot of things this year, and every year, but I’ll focus for the sake of brevity.

I am thankful for my Partner, who is not only warm and sexy, but knows just exactly how to make me feel good.  He’s also a handy reader of books, happy to discuss whatever he’s reading or I’m reading in ways that are fun and thoughtful.  

I am thankful for Sonar X3, who not only has a lovely spot of quiet time every afternoon, but is among the cutest readers on the planet.  He has proven to me that reading need not be a sedentary activity, and can be accomplished quite well while rolling back and forth on the floor.  

I am thankful for Sonar X5, who, besides being a pretty adorable reader himself, is also capable of working out puzzles in the most delicious way.  Something in that brain of his just seems to ‘get’ puzzles in a way that I think is fabulous.  His patience is also a good model for all of us.

I am thankful for Sonar X8, who last night begged to stay up to finish a book, not because he had to for school or something, but because he was “this close” and he just had to know how it turned out.  Susceptible to this urge myself now and then, what could I do but say yes?  And though I often grouch at it, the bouncy, indirect way he moves through the world gives me a little joy when I can remember to lighten up.  

There is something so incredibly ingenious about the acquisition of reading skills and I am so thrilled and giddy to be able to witness this process in my children.  I laugh and tell them that the world won’t be the same now that they can read.  They look at me askance, and roll their eyes, of course, but that’s ok.  Someday I hope they can watch someone else learn to read and to know the sheer joy of it.  

We had a lovely Thanksgiving celebration with family.  There was good food, fun games, and just the right number of days cramped together with extended family.  A field mouse tried to join us for dinner, I finished a kilt sock (pictures soon), and whether she realizes it or not, my mother-in-law made me feel like I was one of “hers,” a feeling that makes me feel warm and happy.  

If you had the opportunity to celebrate Thanksgiving recently, I hope it was survivable at least—though cozy and full of love would be better.  

I'm a Winner, Baby

Day 25:  50,347

And just in time for me to head out of town to eat too much and watch too much football on television with my in-laws.  Oh, and knit too much.

Here is Sonar X5 and his classmates demonstrating the new post-Thanksgiving fitness craze, the Tootie Ta.  If you don’t know this source of kindergarten hi-larity, check it out on You Tube.   

Running Week 1

So far I’ve kept up with the running/yoga goal, and it feels very good. Running MWFSa, Yoga, TuThSu.

When I was just walking, I felt like I had trouble with pacing. I walked the same amount of time every day, but would walk drastically different distances each day. The first day of running, I felt like my running pace was awkward and elusive, but during the walking intervals, my pace was immediately comfortable and steady. Like falling into a groove.

The second day of running, I found a running groove too.

While I feel winded at the end of each running interval, I’m not reduced to excessive panting and gasping, and am able to recover a normal breath within a couple of minutes.

The first couple of days I had no soreness, but this weekend I find that all of my muscle ends are a little sore. Lower Leg, Lower Thigh, and a smidge in left ankle (which I twisted in a non-running accident). Ankle injury didn’t affect running ability, so long as I was careful of my footing. And the overall running soreness is really mild, not a deterrant at all.

The only troublesome consequence so far has been headaches. I run late afternoon or early evening, and on each run day, I get a migrainey headache around bedtime. Poking around on the net, it looks like it could be an exertion headache, perhaps helped by careful stretching of neck and shoulders. I’ve had migraines before, and it could be that the shift in circulation and pressure is bringing them on. The headaches could also be resulting from shifts in caffeine and sugar consumption following the Season of the Nutritional Abyss. I’ve returned to pre-holiday eating patterns, and my body may be adjusting to more sane levels of caffeine and sugar. If the headaches persist through this week, I’ll see the doc to check them out. And try not be lured by worrying about the worst-case scenario offered on the medical web sites. lol

It’s very empowering to discover that I’m capable of running like this. I have a lot more energy, and aside from the occasional flare-up of identity panic, I feel calm and positive about a lot of things in a different way than I can remember for a while.

Next time: Teacher Meme