When Cameryn was about two and a half, I was able to take a year off from working and stay home with her. We lived in a house on a lake then, and that summer was the first time I could remember experiencing a truly free summer. My childhood summers were working ones.
Since Cam was such a little snip, she took a nap for about an hour and a half every afternoon after lunch. I used that time to lie out in the sun with the baby monitor close by so I could hear when she awakened from her nap.
One afternoon, when Cameryn woke up, she didn’t call to me. Instead, she lay in her crib, talking to herself in her little breathy voice, while I listened on the monitor. She was listing all the foods she loved best in the world.
“Ice cream, and chocolate cake, and popcorn, and pizza, and cookies, and ice cream, and cookies, and chocolate cake, and candy, and cookies, and . . .”
For years, when I thought back on that day, I assumed she was simply amusing herself. For the past few days, I have been restricting my caloric intake while still continuing to run, and I have come to realize that the litany baby Cameryn was reciting plays in the back of everyone’s mind, all the time.
You just have to stop chewing in order to hear it.
6 comments:
It definitely does.
There are a few things I like to eat that also happen to be healthy, and I’ve discovered that it is possible to eat them to excess. Last night I prepared baked tilapia with thick slices of onion and tomato, salted and spritzed with lemon juice. The tomatoes get soft and the onion just barely becomes translucent, but it sweetens and is incredibly good. Yummmm. I was really hungry, so I doubled the amount of tomatoes and onions. I was trying to be good, mind you. I didn’t double the amount of fish. I mean, there aren’t many calories in onions and tomatoes. After I snarked this down, I could only lay around, holding my belly, akin to the aftermath of a Thanksgiving feast. Good grief.
Cindy, what time did you say dinner was?
My eating habits have changed since I moved. I shop for myself and my daughter. I didnt really realize this, but when I went to the grocery store I was buying for him and not me. We now have more fresh fruit and vegetables in the house.
Women (myself included) often "surrender" without a conquest. I have often made assumptions about what men wanted and went along with those assumptions without ever having an actual conversation about it. Dating Tim has taught me (is teaching me?) that my assumptions are often wrong, and I am surprised to discover that what he wants is often what I would have preferred, left to my own devices.
I'm pretty sure I got the word from Dan, when he was about 15.
Actually, we just used it to mean "eaten really fast and appreciatively."
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