Pop-Tart Rules!
Surprise snack selection
Before the diagnosis, Joshua and his younger brother, Noah, would persistently ask me to buy the junk food they ate at friends’ homes or saw advertised on TV. They tried every scheme in the book to get me to relent on my no-junk, too-much-sugar food rule.
The day after Joshua and I returned from the diabetes clinic, he and I went to Safeway with the meal plan that Libby, his dietitian, had formulated for him. We walked the aisles, studying the nutritional values printed on every food label. We filled our cart with the precise amount of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats Josh’s meal plan allowed.
The cereal aisle was our last stop. I was scrutinizing the long row of boxes when Joshua interrupted me. “Look, Mom—I found my perfect snack!” I looked up to see a mountain of
Pop-Tarts in our cart. Before I could object, he slid a Pop-Tart box into my hands, the list of nutritional facts within perfect reading range. One Pop-Tart indeed satisfied Libby’s requirements for one of his snacks before P.E. class.
I stood speechless in the aisle as I watched Joshua swing the cart away from the Pop-Tart display and toward the checkout counter. A Cheshire cat grin stretched across his face. He had finally overruled the “Junk Food Judge.” And within the limits of the law!