Recently, every time I step on the scale, I set a new personal record. This is not a good thing. Not a good thing at all and today’s errands provide a clue as to why this expanding waistline is taking place.
Stopping off for an oil change, I settled into the waiting room and began enjoying some free popcorn and a beverage from their cappuccino machine. Soon the attendant said that my car was ready and I tootled out to pay. As she rang up my bill, the attendant noted my impressive collection of “coffee stickers” on my car console. Yes, indeed, it is an impressive collection of stickers. Everything from Ladybugs to Footballs carpet the front of my car, as every latte provides a new decoration. Looking down, however, everything made sense. There I was holding a cappuccino and popcorn, while reflecting on my bountiful record of coffee beverage consumption. Perhaps, my consumption habits were leading to my problems on the bathroom scale (surprise, surprise, tubby).
A photo of my car’s center console coffee sticker collection. Note, in the upper right corner is an action figure of my wife, Charlene.
Recognizing my old tendencies at the oil change shop did not prevent me from falling into old habits at the grocery store. You see, my youngest son Ben and I used to make the trip to the grocery store a walking celebration. A latte on the way to the store? Well, it is on the way. Doughnut? No problem. Free cup of coffee? Why, I would expect nothing less. Yep, we were a calorie accruing caravan. Any who, with Ben in Kindergarten, there I am at the store alone. Somehow, the doughnut and multiple cups of coffee don’t quite taste the same, but I refused to let that stand in my way. Traditions die hard.
Walking through the grocery store with my doughnut and coffee in hand, I saw something that brought back memories. Ready bake cookies. You know the ones, Pillsbury Sugar Cookies with the Pumpkin Face in the center. Certainly, I could allow myself one final trip down memory lane.
Even the dough for the ready bake cookies is cute.
You see, when I was first home with my oldest son Jacob, who was then only 2½-years-old, we would make similar trips to the grocery store. This was before I could bake anything. Baking was a mystery. Baking was an undiscovered country. So when we happened to pass a display of ready bake pumpkin design cookies, I saw the potential for adventure. I informed young Jacob that we were going to make cookies and that evening, Charlene, Jacob, and I enjoyed the ready bake sugar cookies.
A few days later, Charlene suggested to young Jacob that they bake cookies together. They would need flour, sugar, butter, eggs… then Jacob stopped Charlene and said, “Mommy, cookies come from the store.” Oh dear, I had taught my son that cookies are a pop in the oven type food. No higher on the food complexity scale than frozen pizzas. Ashamed, I decided to learn how to bake cookies and that, my friends, was the start of Cookie Dave.
Young Jacob showing off some of our early baking efforts in 2006.
Yes, many traditions are good. Some old habits are worth keeping. Not every snack should be avoided. I just need to remember that old habits are especially bad, when they are shoveled into your mouth.
A current photo of the Paulsen Boys, with their mouths full of pumpkin face ready bake sugar cookies.