My Real Life

Monkey in the Middle and I suffer from a malady that I call “Food Disappointment.”

I love food.

Love it.

However, I am not an exotic eater. 

I have certain foods that I eat, and am not much of a try-er. 

So, the foods I do eat are predictable and comforting…

…and I expect them to be a certain way when I order them.

One time, when Real Man and I were dating, we went to the beach for a day.

On the way home, we stopped at Dairy Queen and I ordered my tradtional large chocolate cone with rainbow sprinkles.

Granted, it was probably over 100 degrees that day, but as the woman handed me the cone, it was a mess..already dripping down my hands and lopsided, despite the fact I had only held it for three seconds.

We got in the car and I cried and cried and said that if your only job is to make ice cream cones, you should have pride in your work and do your best to produce a great product. 

It was a little ridiculous.

I can be a little ridiculous sometimes.

Anyway, that story illustrates why, the other night when my parents took us out to dinner, I was able to sympathize with Monkey in the Middle when he eagerly ordered mac and cheese, and then his eyes filled with tears when it was delivered to the table.

“What’s the matter?” I asked.

“It’s not the shell kind of macaroni,” he said through the tears.  “They usually have the shell shaped macaroni,” and he pushed his plate away and came over to hug me and cry.

As a responsible adult, I said, “I understand…that must be disappointing, but you need to eat what you’ve ordered,” gave him a squeeze and sent him back to his seat.

Inside, my heart broke for the kid.

Because, I get it.

This is all background to explain my own tearful response, yesterday afternoon, to a package of cookies.

When I was growing up, my Mom always had Archway Iced Spice cookies in the house.

Always.

They were delicious.

Kind of a ginger-y, cinnamon-y, other kind of spicy cookie that was iced with a hard frosting.

Again, I say, delicious.

They don’t make the iced spice cookie, anymore, however, they have an iced oatmeal cookie, which I will buy every now and then to have a treat.

I’ve been craving them the past month or so, but ShopRite is perpetually out of them.

Apparently, I’m not the only one who knows the goodness of the cookie.

However, this past weekend, there they were!

I was thrilled!

I did a happy dance in the aisle and popped a package in my cart.

They stayed in the pantry until yesterday when I decided it was time to open them up.

I know you look at this cookie and say, “Huh…good looking cookie.”

I look at it with disappointment.

The best part of these cookies are the interplay of icing and cookie in your mouth.

What the heck is up with the icing on this cookie?

It not only doesn’t cover the whole cookie, but it’s got holes in the icing covering all over.

Disappointment.

Don’t get me wrong…I ate the cookie.

Yet, after a month of waiting to bite into one, it was disappointing.

And, of course, I realize that if this is the worst of my problems, I’m doing just fine in life.

However…

…this is one area where my 6 year old and I are exactly on the same page.