It's been a tough couple of weeks here. I won't bore you with the details, but one side-effect from the stress has been a micro-flare up of my MS*. A couple of weeks ago, my jaw started feeling tired. Like I couldn't relax it enough. And it's progressed to where sometimes it's hard to chew or talk. Before you get all worried, I DID see my doctor. And my neurologist. And I had scans and EKG's. I'm a picture of health. Hopefully it will just go away.
In any case, I was kind of tired of eating soup by the third week. I'm not much of a cook and really have no tolerance for recipes and whatnot. Sometimes I don't even heat the soup. Just saying. So, one night last week, it occurred to me that a smart person would "go to the experts" for easy, quick, and no-need-to-chew dinner options. And with that, I downloaded the TLC app and started watching My 600 Pound Life.
The show is surprisingly addictive, and I was in the middle of Season 4 when my son came home from boarding school for the weekend to visit me. Not wanting to continue passing my food-related issues on to him**, I tried to sneak watch it on Friday night. I sat on one end of the couch with my headphones on while he sat at the other end, playing on his computer. A real slice of American family time, I know. But I was so into Dottie's story (Season 4, Episode 6), that I didn't notice when he got up to use the bathroom and walked by my screen.
When he asked, "WHAT are you watching?!" I stammered and blushed and tried to explain myself. I claimed it was for an assignment. I said it was suggested to me. Finally, I tried to blame it on my daughter who wasn't even home. He stood there, calmly staring at me while a screen-frozen and tearful Dottie shotgunned a can of whipped cream. I was humiliated.
And then, he did EXACTLY what I had done to him when I found out that he was secretly watching Game of Thrones...He said "Let's watch it together and then we can pause it and talk about any scenes that confuse or upset us." What a bastard!
So, we sat and watched. And, I realized that I had forgotten about why I had started watching in the first place. It dawned on me during the episode of Sarah's story when she makes a huge TaterTot casserole. My son said, "Wow. That sounds really good." And I had to agree. I made a mental note to grab some Tots when I went shopping the next day. Soon, we were skimming through episodes, taking notes of some of the finest "recipes" created by these (for-lack-of-a-better-term) professional eaters.
Who knew that a bag of potato chips crushed into a tub of cream cheese could be so tasty? Thank you, Lupe! And a bowl of Nilla wafers in milk with sliced banana and Hersey's syrup? Thank you, Stephen! And hot dogs dipped in peanut butter? Delicious, Olivia!. Soon, I had several food ideas, all requiring little to no chewing effort. Also, I had spent an evening with my son that actually included conversation and laughter. AND, I know he won't starve when he goes off to college. I'd say that deserves a nomination at least.
* I don't even know if that's a real term; I think I made it up.
** The fact that I may have already done damage in this department could effect my Mother-of-the-Year award. In fact, there are a couple of other factors that could complicate my award status:
- When, as a child of three, he kept asking me if I liked him or his sister better. Finally, out of sheer frustration I said, "To be honest, I like your sister a little more."
- When we took a surprise trip to Florida and the kids had to get up really early in the morning to catch a plane they didn't even know they were taking... I woke them up by screaming "FIRE".
- When we spent hours trying to perfect the art of stealing a wrist watch off a person without them noticing
- When we reprogrammed his Speak-and-Spell to say "Donkey Punch" (look it up)
- There are a couple more...but I think you get the idea.
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