Eating Like a Grown-Up

Love this thrift store cup. Just 39 cents!

I don't know about you, but I really like "kid foods." You know, Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, peanut butter and bologna sandwiches, hot dogs, scrambled eggs with ketchup, macaroni and cheese, that wonderful-but-at-the-same-time-terrible Chef Boyardee "beef" ravioli. Stuff that is pretty bad for you but so very yummy.

When I was in the car on Friday with my friend Valerie, we talked a bit about whether we felt like "adults." Or rather if we felt the way we thought adults should feel when we were kids. Now, I have certainly felt more adult since having a kid, but as a child I always thought that once you were a certain age you just magically became an adult. Like suddenly you liked black coffee, you ate your eggs with just salt and pepper, you liked doing laundry, and you knew when to fertilize your lawn.

Last week someone on Facebook linked to this Onion article about the imminent disappearance of mature adults. Like most Onion articles, its satire is supposed to be funny but there is also some sad truth to it (which is what makes it funny, I guess).

It sort of corresponded to another conversation I recently had with my husband about growing up. We realized that it used to be that kids were denied a lot because they were too young or too little, and this made them desire adulthood so that they could participate. For instance, when I was young, I was denied wearing makeup and getting my ears pierced and wearing shoes with heels until I got to a certain age. Today I see five-year-old girls dressed like college students. And much of the time their moms are dressed just like them, trying to look younger than their age.

Life as an adult dog is somewhat more lazy than life
as an adult person.

We put such emphasis on youth in this country that there is hardly a reason for young people to want to grow up. They get everything they want. Now. I struggle with this with raising our son. We can essentially get him whatever he wants. But even though another matchbox car is just a dollar or another train is just $12, I don't want him to have everything he wants. I want him to know that in life there are times you can't have it all. I realize that those times my parents told me "no" when I wanted something wasn't because they couldn't afford it. It was because it isn't good for a child to get them everything they want.

So my own tendency when Calvin asks for something is to immediately deny the request with "You don't need that." I pick and choose lately, saying no to most toys but yes to experiences, like going for a walk, going to the zoo or the park, or eating something special. Hopefully I'm striking a balance that will help him in the long run. And perhaps by doing this I'm becoming a real adult.

This morning I ate an egg beaters omelette with tomatoes and onions and drank black coffee. Tonight I'll fold the clothes and be happy that things are a bit more in order in the house. Maybe next year we'll start taking better care of the lawn. Baby steps.