Skip to main content

When "I Love You" Doesn't Translate

Too often we say "I love you" with food.  For some time I've been trying to break that nasty habit in my household, but this way of expressing "I love you" is something that has been done to me, and I've done to other people, for my entire life.  And is it just me, or does EVERY celebration have to revolve around food???  Tonight I am committing to ending this behavior once and for all.  The trick is figuring out how to quit associating food gifting with love giving.  Here's a great example:

Once, my husband brought me home a banana split... smiling from ear to ear.  I PANICKED!  For a split (pardon the pun) second I FREAKED OUT in my head thinking, "I've eaten a perfectly clean diet all week.  I'm in the home stretch.  WHY would he do this to me?  Can I REALLY turn down a banana split?  Will I hurt his feelings by turning it down?"  I honestly went through a pretty manic minute and half before asking him, "why did you buy me a banana split?"  He understood right away where the conversation was going, "I don't know" he said.  To which I responded, "Get rid of it."

Thinking back I WISH I would have responded with, "I do.  You were trying to tell me you love me.  But banana splits no longer express that.  I love to hear you say 'I love you' far more than I love eating banana splits.  Unfortunately, I'm associating banana splits with feeling bad and unhealthy."  I think if I had not been so panicked and told him the truth of the matter instead of just reacting, the night wouldn't have ended with me going to bed feeling guilty and my husband sitting in front of the TV eating a banana split and, I imagine, feeling rejected. 

I'm hoping that sharing this with everyone will help someone else deal with those moments when you feel you just CAN'T say "no thank you".  It's hard, but honesty really is the best policy.  I guess the key to this particular puzzle is just not to panic.  And more importantly, I'm hoping this might inspire others to commit to changing those crazy food associations.  Why do we meet everyone for coffee or lunch?  Why don't we meet friends for a walk in the park or a class at the gym?  I think this year I'm requesting a Frisbee tournament birthday party with build-your-own salads instead of cake.... any thoughts???
Labels:

Comments

Julie Tucker-Wolek said…
Hmmmmm.... I think my Mom is the only one that does that to me ... she knows I love Mallo Cups and if she sees them, she buys them for me! LOL!! Brian knows that he can tell me he loves me by taking me to the scrappy store! LOL!!!
January 17, 2013 at 8:08 AM
Post a Comment

Past 7 Days....

The Old Clunker

A few years back I received a Creative Zen Micro Photo for Christmas. It was wonderful! The fact that I could finally carry around all my music in a super small (or I thought at the time)2.25" x 3.5" music player was sheer freedom from carrying around that old, large, portable cd player and I won't even go into the tons of music cds that also had to go along for the ride. Ok... so I'll mention them briefly, hahahahaha! And I was also surprised by how much lighter this music player was. At 5.5 oz., wearing it fashionably on an armstrap to the gym put me in the leagues with the top fitness buffs. Then something shifted... I was no longer hip, or in, or cool anymore. Suddenly everything shrunk and my music player was now a gigantic dinosaur! What the heck?!? Now everyone was sporting music players that were as big as the face of a watch and were a million times lighter than mine. All of a sudden I was back in the 7th grade trying to convince my mom to buy me the latest
Post a Comment
Read more

MY VERY FIRST CRICUT CARTRIDGE GIVE AWAY!

Ok ... so the time has come. I've got some BRAND NEW, NEVER BEEN USED, STILL IN THE PLASTIC Cricut Cartridges to give away over the next couple of months and it starts with one of my ALL-TIME FAVORITES...... Hannah Montana! YAY! I LOVE this cartridge! It's got the most beautiful guitar images along with musical notes and FIVE fonts! I used the regular font and the rock star font to create my Father's Day card this year (see above). I also used the Hannah Montana cart (see below) to create a beautiful butterfly (FREE Gypsy cut file HERE ), and am currently working on a project using the gorgeous solitaire diamond. There's a rose and lips and decorative hearts, even a Pegasus ! There's just so much on this cartridge.... I use it a lot! To call this a "font" cartridge is terribly misleading. It's been a long time favorite and now I'm THRILLED to be able to give it away to one of my awesome readers! So here's how to win: Become one of my follower
28 comments
Read more

The Inventor Of the TV Dinner Should Be Slapped!

Close observation of my eating shows that I can scarf my tuna casserole at an alarming rate. I sit in front of the TV to eat my dinner and 5 minutes later I am pushing the plate away with little to no memory of ever have eaten. That is interesting to me because, you see, I LOVE FOOD! I also LOVE being thin. These facts SHOULD come to life by the knowledge that if I took smaller bites and chewed thoroughly , not only would I get to enjoy my food that much longer, but I would also be burning more calories (yes, the activity of chewing burns calories!!!!)! And on top of THAT amazing knowledge, my body would also be able to process the food I eat much better therefore more of the food I consume would be utilized to help build my lean mean body. So what the heck is up???? Why DON'T I slow down my eating knowing all these amazing benefits? What's causing this little glitch? Those are the very questions I asked myself at the start of this year. I knew the answer before I ever wrote th
Post a Comment
Read more