Pigging Out on Red Vines in Aisle 12: Thanks Mom!

Maybe it’s the cough from last week’s cold that keeps hanging on, the lousy preschool drop off this morning that made me wonder if kindergarten really is in my daughter’s future, or the prospect of balancing kids and job when school lets out in just two weeks. But something set me off at Target yesterday in the nut and candy aisle, and the next thing I knew, I had eaten an entire pack of Red Vines licorice before we even got to the checkout. My daughter was in mild shock.

This reaction comes directly from a gene from my mother. As a kid, I remember her regularly sneaking a caramel from the open bins at the supermarket. I was always a little surprised. Not only did she not pay for it – I did pay for my Red Vines- but it was so contrary to our seventies, low-sugar, carob-laced diet. Was she undermining all of the lessons about health she had taught us, the years of wheat bread, unpeeled apples, and zucchini pizza?

As a mom, I now know she taught me instead that there are times to break the rules. When the lights get too bright at Target, it’s a little hot, your kid has asked for gum way too many times, an organic rice cake isn’t going to cut it. So you have a little treat to help you make it to the cash register. And your kid realizes that you don’t collapse immediately when you ingest a glug of red dye mixed in with corn syrup, even though I vaguely remember telling her a few years back that this type of candy makes you sick and unhealthy.

So that’s what happened. And I have a fantastic mom. She showed me all the right things to do and how to do them. But then she let me in on the secret that the world won’t stop spinning when you mess up. I hope to send the same message to my kids.

Happy Mother’s Day!