How is it mothers always know what’s going on behind their backs, especially when it’s something naughty?
I loved sugar as a small child. When no one was looking, I’d get into the sugar bowl. There usually wasn’t much activity or supervision in the dining room, and the sugar bowl tempted me. I would use the spoon in the bowl to scoop up the sugar and put it in my mouth, and then wait in bliss while it slowly dissolved on my tongue. Evidently this was very naughty, and my mother always knew. It took me a long time to find out how. The spoon was sterling silver, a souvenir spoon from decades earlier, and it had a scene engraved into the bowl of the spoon. When I’d put the damp spoon back into the sugar bowl, it instantly acquired a thick coating of new sugar. And that’s how she knew.
When I found out what I was doing that tipped her off, I changed my method. Instead of putting the spoon in my mouth, I just used it to scoop the sugar directly into my little hand, and I licked it off my hand. That was just as satisfying, and I no longer got the spoon wet.
But she still knew! Only when I reached adulthood did I find out how. Evidently I’d always spill some of the sugar on the floor, and she’d know by the gritty sound it made under her shoes when she walked through the dining room.
There were lots of other things I didn’t get away with either.
I still love sugar. Actually, I like chocolate even better. All chocolate. Except for white chocolate, which looks and tastes like wax to me. Chocolate, in general, does not survive long in my house. Unless it’s white chocolate. I can have white chocolate around for years and not be tempted.
I read somewhere that chocolate contains magnesium, and adult women need magnesium, and so chocolate is health food! I may not have all the details down, but I’m sticking by this story. With apologies to our dear Bella health and nutrition writers Ginger Hudock, Rota Krape, and Zoom Heaton.
Oh my gosh, I just looked up the benefits of magnesium. It lowers PMS symptoms. Lowers the risk of osteoporosis and diabetes. Lowers blood pressure. Fights depression. Relieves leg cramps. Prevents migraines. Reduces insulin resistance. Boosts exercise performance. (!) Magnesium is anti-inflammatory. It’s a miracle drug.
And, as it turns out, I cannot swallow pills, certainly not ones large enough to give me the magnesium I need. It’s genetic — other members of my family cannot swallow large pills either. So chocolate is an essential nutrient for me, again with apologies to Zoom Heaton.
May your May be filled with sweet memories of your mother and your childhood.
