This week I willingly welcomed temptation into our home like an October friend I haven’t seen in a while. I bought the deadly duo of candy corn and candy pumpkins and put them in open bowls on our kitchen counter, sealing my blood sugar’s fate for the remainder of the month.
My children insist there is a difference in the taste between these two candies, but my palate must be less discriminating than theirs because I enjoy them both with equal abandon. I will say I prefer the experience of eating the candy pumpkins because I find it incredibly satisfying to bite clean through the entire orb and turn what would otherwise be a one-bite treat into two, or maybe even three, delightful nibbles.
The problem for me is stopping. Once I start (“I’ll just have one…I can quit whenever I want…”) I am sunk. The pull of the candy corn is strong, and I just keep going back for “one little nibble” until the bowl is completely empty.
Meanwhile I absolutely insist that my children not overindulge because that’s good parenting, right? The hypocrisy of my “do as I say not as a do” mothering mixed with the guilt of single-handedly emptying the candy bowl can leave me in a bit of a shame spiral.
So, how was your week?
While flipping through the October issue of Vogue (high five to Lizzo for looking smoking hot on that cover!), I ran across a familiar face staring back at me from a Jimmy Choo ad. Did you watch Normal People? Do you recognize the model? It’s Marianne!!
The ad was a little bit triggering for me, as I may or may not have gotten way too invested in the characters on Normal People, needing some emotional support when things got really complicated and she was unable to use her words to tell the man of her dreams how she really felt. I looked at this ad and instantly wanted to ask her how Connell is doing in New York and if she regrets her choice to stay behind.
My general weekday lunch plan involves piling some assortment of protein and vegetables on top of a bed of spinach, adding an avocado, and diving in. This week, my happenstance combo was one of my best yet. I made a batch of Ina’s Curried Chicken Salad (highly recommend), roasted some butternut squash, and added a splash of white wine vinegar on top. Normally by the end of the week I am ready for a change in the menu, but not this week. I am already making plans to give this another go next week. Want to join me?
My third child turns thirteen today. To know Norah is to experience the delight of an old soul in the precious frame of a seventh-grader. She is a lot like me, which makes it easy for me to read her mind, but we can also both way overthink just about anything and get trapped in the slog of high expectations. Sometimes staring at yourself in the frame of your child is humbling and an important life lesson.
Norah is her own person with grand ideas, specific plans, and detailed goals. She is able to hold her own conversationally with anyone (literally, since she was a toddler), and we are all convinced that Norah will run the world one day.
Have a lovely weekend!
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