Hot Fudge Sundae Pop Tarts

I had a sweet little dose of reality today.  Literally, it was sweet.  It came in the form of a Hot Fudge Sundae Pop Tart.

So, rewind a few weeks with me.  I brought T and G with me to the commissary to do a massive stock-up trip for our pantry and freezers at home.  I'd already dodged a few "Oh Mom, can we please get this?!" moments, and we were now on the breakfast foods aisle.  This is a particularly tricky aisle to navigate with kids, I've found.  They view lots of the granola bars, fruit snacks and other items as "must haves."  I plopped a box of strawberry pop tarts in the basket and proceeded down the aisle toward the fruit snacks....and from behind me I hear T exclaim "oh I love these, these are my favorite!"  I allowed myself a slight eye roll before I turned around.  The excitement was all over her face, and in her hands rested a box of Hot Fudge Sundae Pop Tarts.

In my mind, there was overwhelming evidence against the practicality of buying such an item (not to mention the fact that I personally just don't really enjoy chocolate that much - I know, the blasphemy!), and I let her know this.  The excitement soon left her face.  And as I stood there explaining away that you really shouldn't eat chocolate for breakfast, and that those were indeed not very good for you, and that we didn't need three kinds of pop tarts in our home....something paused me.  Maybe it was the tone of my own voice.  I grabbed several pop tarts boxes, and I compared the nutritional information; lo and behold, the nutritional information on the boxes of the three varieties that I chose was nearly identical.  (Apparently the "fruit" in the strawberry variety isn't enough to matter, or the chocolate in the hot fudge sundae variety isn't enough to make it that bad for you.)  I ended up grabbing a box of the hot fudge sundae variety as well, and nestled it in next to the Strawberry.  We don't eat pop tarts every morning anyway - I know they're not the number one choice for a healthy breakfast, and since the varieties are similar anyway, might as well add it in to the mix of choices on the days we do have pop tarts.

If you know me at all, you probably are aware that I'm a thinker.  My mind is rarely at rest, and this instance was no exception.  I immediately started drawing parallels between this experience and others similar to it.  I was basically rushing to judgment; I was basically certain that what I thought was correct and true, when really I could have learned something if I was open to it.  Also, I don't know if I'd consider calling my treatment of Tessaira "harsh", but I wasn't really being thoughtful and gentle either.  I was pretty convinced that I knew what was best and was prepared to let her know it.  These are things that I'm aware of about myself, but not always able to snap out of when I'm doing them.  Somehow today I not only was aware, but was able to humble myself and snap out of it.

I can't help but think, that if we all were a little slower to speak, a little quicker to consider another point of view...and to listen........well, I believe that'd make this world a little better.  It made my world a little better that Saturday.  And, it made Tessaira's a little better.

Especially with all the hot topics swirling around these days.  Especially as we move full-swing into the political season.....I hope we'll all put aside what we think we already know, and take some time to listen and consider something new.  Had I not on that Saturday, I'd have no idea just how flippin' delicious hot fudge sundae pop tarts really are.  And now...back to my snack.  :)