When I signed up to take the Live Below the Line Challenge, I knew there was no way I’d convince my husband to partake, and my son? Well, I just wasn’t comfortable limiting his food for the sake of experiment. (And yes, I do understand that there are many kids who live under these circumstances, without a parent who can make that choice for them. That’s why I selected the World Food Program USA as my cause–give freely!)
But as a work at home mom, we’re together quite a bit–and most of our meals are made together. I’d give up anything of my own if my son needed it, as I’m sure many parents would. And like most moms, I’ve often declined the last piece of pizza, the last piece of candy, even the last cup of milk (no matter how DESPERATELY I need it for my morning cofeee), if my son needs (or wants) it more. But when you’re STARVING (which, having ran four miles and taught a spin class yesterday, taught a yoga class and spent all day running around at the playground–and with one more yoga class yet to teach tonight), I am–all bets are off. As the saying “taking candy from a baby goes,” I stole Mac & Cheese from my kid. Here’s how the shame unfolded.
I woke up very hungry, but suppressed it thanks to some coffee. (Okay, about 3 cups). We even went to the grocery store today (I furiously chewed gum). Thanks to my very healthy morning fuel of water, coffee and gum, I was surprisingly not that hungry by about 11 a.m. when we got home. I ate a banana, drank some more coffee and water, had a yogurt, and that was it. (That little bit cost me about .75 cents). We went to the playground, enjoyed a beautiful day at the park for about two hours. I was doing pretty okay–or so I thought.
When we got home, my son was very thirsty and hungry from all the playing, so I poured him some green juice (I had water). He requested mac & cheese for lunch. Let me caveat this by saying that I typically don’t even like pasta, but I guess when you’re God knows how many calories in the hole, food preferences tend to shift. It started innocently: I was testing his food to make sure it wasn’t too hot. Before I knew it, I’d eaten half of it. Ravenously. Mind you, I’m probably still within my $1,50 budget for the day, because the whole box cost $1.39–but because there is milk and cheese in the ingredients, who knows. Point is, I’ve learned that you’re a little less of a selfless parent when you’re starving! Though I’ve always joked to people that my undoing if I were on Survivor would have everything to do with not having food, turns out, it’s true.
