A Departure From The Norm . . .

Because I am the Meanest Mom on the Planet, a usual meal at my house includes a hearty helping of fruit, a fresh vegetable, a whole grain, some sort of lean protein and a glass of water or milk. My kids sack lunches are never coveted by other children at school and dessert is a once-a-week {maybe} privilege which could include a whole fruit popsicle, a sugar free Jell-o pudding snack or a fresh fruit smoothie. Mean. Oh so mean.

Now take a look at a good portion of my grocery haul from yesterday. As you can see, I have entered a parallel reality and given in to pure, unadulterated JUNK. This junk will join my family once again this year for our annual Memorial Day trip to Bethany Beach.

Why all the junk? It has a lot to do with making this tradition of going to the beach an awesome memory for the kids. Bedtimes are pushed back, games a plenty are played, laughter abounds, and we let our kids eat all the cruddy junk their hearts desire {okay, I stopped short of buying the "Cookie Crisp"}. Usually they're dying to get in bed early at night after playing in the sun all day and the inevitable belly ache teaches a lesson so I don't have to: eating nothing but junk makes you feel junky. Still - it's fun for me to watch the RedDog marvel at the marshmallows in his Lucky Charms, to see Big C figure out how best to cook "this thing called a Pop-Tart" and to laugh at Hannie B licking her orange Chee-toh fingers.

And of course, it's back to reality {with vegetables} on Tuesday!

Happy Memorial Day to you all.