Photo A Day, Day 16: My Vice

My “vice”? The only thing about this topic that makes it difficult is the fact that the word “vice” is singular. Oh, if only I were afflicted with just a single vice. But alas, my vices are legion. I am tempted by so many things: by chocolate, by liquor, by laziness, by procrastination, by cheesy television… But at this stage of my life, I must admit that the vice I struggle with most often, that I fight against the hardest, that I am tempted by the strongest, is…food.

But not just any food. Food, in the purest sense, is not a vice. I’ve heard it said that food is the one thing you can’t give up cold turkey. You can give up categories and components of food, like meat, gluten, alcohol, or seafood, but you cannot give up food in its entirety and expect to live very long. Food is necessary for life. So I would never call food, in and of itself, a vice. Gourmet food, however, is my vice. And this past weekend, I indulged deeply in that particular vice.

As a 40-something female with two children under the age of 5 and a sheer revulsion for exercise, rich, indulgent food like this is definitely a vice. The increasing tightness in the waistband of all my pants will attest to that.

But you know those annoying diet ads that claim, “Nothing tastes as good as being thin feels”? Those ads are total bunk – for me, at least. Filet mignon tastes better to me than being thin feels. Hot chocolate ganache tastes better than being thin feels. Crispy duck breast, crème brulee, lobster bisque, and venison all taste better than being thin feels. Girl Scout thin mints taste better. So does deep dish pizza, Brie and bread, and Ben and Jerry’s Late Night Snack ice cream. 

If the price I have to pay for indulging in these delights of the palate now and then is going up a jeans size? Bring on the elastic waistband, baby. And pass the nachos. Because they’re my vice. And I looooove my vice.

Educational Food

Since my son tends to be a bit of a messy eater (he looks everywhere except his fork when he's eating), it's only very recently that I've introduced him to the joys of soup. I love to make soup, so his first couple of soup experiences were soups that I had made and tailored specifically toward his tastes (he loves corn, carrots, and rice). But when my husband picked up groceries the other week and brought home a can of alphabet soup, I knew it was time to introduce my son to Campbell's for the first time.

Because of his messy eating habits, when I do give him soup I go light on the broth and heavy on the other ingredients. So when I presented him with his bowl of alphabet soup, it was mostly a pile of chubby pasta letters with a few carrots, peas, and corn dotted here and there, with just a tiny puddle of liquid at the bottom. As is often his habit, my son barely glanced at what was in the bowl before absent-mindedly scooping some up while looking elsewhere. But when he peeked at the spoon before he shoveled it in his mouth, his eyes grew big. "Mama! Letters!" he said in astonishment. "Letters in my spoon!"

Being raised by an elementary school teacher, I find teaching opportunities in everything, especially things as obvious as alphabet soup. So naturally, I asked him what letters he saw in his bowl. Every letter he named, I told him something that started with that letter. He pointed out a "B"; I told him that "B is for ball." He found a "T"; I said, "T is for turtle." Then I started asking him to find a particular letter: "Is there an 'R' in your bowl? R is for Ryan! Can you find an 'M'? M is for Mama!"

I laughed at myself a bit for finding an educational opportunity in a bowl of soup. But then, it wasn't the first time I've used food as a teaching tool. We often count how many peas are on his plate, or how many pieces of cheese. I tell him that his peaches are a fruit and that they grow on a tree, and that his carrots are a vegetable and they grow in the ground, and that they both need water and sunshine and soil to grow. I tell him that candy is sweet and we only have it now and then as a treat, but we need to eat meat and vegetables and milk and bread every day to keep our bodies strong and healthy. We talk about how banana slices are circles and wedges of pineapple are triangles. We talk about apples being red and canteloupe being orange and grapes being green or purple.

In our house, food isn't just something you eat to give you energy or because it tastes good. It's something that can teach you colors and shapes and numbers and letters and agriculture and nutrition. Oh, and don't forget all those wonderful food vocabulary words: tasty, yummy, delicious, and scrumptious!