Yesterday was Ash Wednesday and the kick-off to Lent for Catholics. As such, we’re supposed to give something up during Lent. Something hard. I debated about just skipping it and not giving anything up. Then I debated about what to give up. A friend gave up Facebook. Very brave. Another gave up sugar. Equally brave and hard. I’ve decided … deep breath … to give up Diet Coke. I probably have an average of 2 cans a day. And not being a coffee or tea drinker, besides it being pretty much my Drink of Choice, it’s also my caffeine fix. Being a single mom, giving up a caffeine fix is going to be hard. But then again, that is the whole point of this, right? It’s supposed to be hard. More deep breaths. I didn’t decide what to give up until tonight, so the one I had at dinner was my last one. One last deep breath. It’s just a drink. Not a big deal. Really.
So Nick decided to give up talking back. A move I wholeheartedly endorse. Every once in awhile, the mouthiness resembles a 15-year-old’s. Coming from my 7-year-old son’s body. Not a fan. In fact, the first thing he said to me this morning was, “Mom, really, and here I thought you were going to be nice to me today. Guess I was wrong.” Because the mean mommy told him (nicely) to get moving because he was going to be late for car pool. All in favor of squashing the backtalk.
Even though Jamie, the kids’ babysitter, isn’t Catholic, she wanted to give up something too. I love that about her. She went back and forth between two things all night … either giving up putting off going to the gym (and in her defense, she goes several times a week, but she doesn’t think it’s enough) or giving up chocolate. When we got on the topic of chocolate, she said she really only eats it here, in the stuff that we bake. So you know what that means … that turned into me giving up baking with chocolate. I don’t know how I got dragged into that one, but I somehow ended up with an added challenge now. No baking with chocolate for Lent. Is she kidding me?  Usually when I bake something, I save a few pieces for here, and the rest goes to neighbors, work, the kids’ school, and other various spots. For me it’s easy because I don’t have a terrible sweet tooth. If I did, it would be a problem. But, really, one bite to taste something and I’m pretty much done. Not so much with her. And I want to be supportive. So along with giving up my beloved Diet Coke, I’m giving up baking with chocolate. For her.
Now all that being said, you’ve got to love that tonight’s piece is titled with the words Hershey Kiss. We mutually agreed that since I had already planned to make a cute little fun dessert tonight with chocolate, it would be our last chocolate hurrah from now until Lent. And technically, it’s not baked, but what she’s giving up isn’t about a technicality, so I want to be fair.
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