I'd Say I Was Frugal

As I await the birth of my second grandbaby, flashbacks of being a young mom bombard my brain.  Some memories make me laugh. Others cause me to cringe. Was I overly health conscious when it came to food, or merely a penny-pinching, frugal mom?  Did I follow my own instincts and personal likes/dislikes with some of my choices? I'm thinking specifically about treats and desserts.

Sometimes I purchased pre-packaged desserts to pack in my children's lunches.  I could never figure out why Swiss Cake Rolls, Ding Dongs, Twinkies, and the likes came in packs of two.  Were most kids allowed to eat two at one sitting?  At night, as I'd prepare as much of their lunch as I could, I would open up the desserts and rewrap them in single portions. I could have saved a lot of time by just giving each kid 2.  With the extra wrapping, did I truly save any money. Did my son's (or daughters') friends laugh that they only received a half of a dessert. Wouldn't two Twinkies have been way too much fat, calories, and sugar?

On occasion, I would treat my children to donuts on the way to church.  In order for this to happen, I had to get up extra early.  You would think that not having to make breakfast and stopping at the local donut shop would save time.  Nope.  Knowing they would be having sugar, I'd fix them an extra big breakfast with plenty of protein to help balance out their diet.  It wasn't until I met up with a friend and her kids for donuts did I realize that the donuts WERE breakfast.  My kids were shocked when they watched their friends indulge in two donuts a piece.  With 5 kids, including me, I would have had to purchase an entire dozen.  Imagine 12 glazed, sprinkled, and sugared delights devoured in minutes. That seemed like a huge expenditure, but maybe not so bad had I not already prepared them eggs and bacon. Besides, eating just one donut (sometimes they couldn't even finish it) reduced the possibility of chocolate smears on their Sunday Best.

I made a lot of brownies for lunchbox desserts, as these gooey treats were a favorite.  Or did I make them, knowing that since I didn't like them, they'd last longer and I wouldn't be tempted to partake myself?  With so much dessert talk, I suppose I can rule out that I was overly health conscious, but at the time I did try to provide balanced, nutritious meals, with a bit of dessert added.  It's just too bad I didn't realize that I had at least one daughter with Celiac Disease.  I shudder to think of how much gluten I fed them.

Truthfully,

Joanne

 "So be careful how you live. Live as men who are wise and not foolish.  Make the best use of your time." (Eph. 5:16)