They All Have Sugar.
I am not a huge fan of tradition, so Mother’s Day is not bright on my radar. It’s nice having a day, but we don’t spend the whole day buying purses or eating at some high-priced, lavender-infused bistro.
As a result, my sons can almost forget about it beforehand. They don’t fret over cards or gifts – although this year Shane spontaneously presented me with a hidden word puzzle book, which I love.
Mostly, I just enjoy spending time with the boys. We played several games of Racko this year, after playing Apples to Apples and Big Boggle. We watched “Ferb TV,” my favorite Phineas and Ferb episode, and I got to pick anything I wanted to eat for lunch and dinner. (Bill cooked, thank goodness.)
For health reasons, I am on a very restricted diet. NO gluten, dairy, soy, rice, potatoes, corn or sugar. My blood sugar skyrocketed, probably because I consumed a ton of fruit.
So I am now fighting extra hard to avoid even trace amounts of sugar. For lunch, I asked for hot dogs and baked beans, a treasured staple from my childhood.
We had one, soup-sized can of baked beans in the cupboard: 16 grams of sugar in 1/2 cup. The entire can was 42 grams of sugar. Previously, I would have eaten it anyway. But my health is in danger, so even on Mother’s Day, I knew better.
Since it was my special day, Dylan and Shane went to the grocery store to find me some sugar-free or reduced-sugar baked beans.
They were gone mere minutes when Shane sent the first photo: Dylan crouched in front of a wall of baked beans, scouring labels. Then the texting began.
No sugar free beans sorry
This is the only can that doesn’t say “made with brown sugar” or “made with extra brown sugar” on it
We can’t find reduced sugar either
I’m looking at all the beans they have mom
They all have sugar
I called Dylan to tell him to forget it. He answered without saying hello: “After reading the labels absolutely every can of baked beans, I am now certain that there are no baked beans without sugar.”
“Don’t worry about … ” I started to say.
“Oh wait! This one has 10 grams of sugar. Ten is the lowest I can find.”
That’s more than 30 grams per can. “Forget it, Dylan, really. I just won’t have baked beans.”
“It’s Mother’s Day,” Dylan said. “Let me get one can. You can have ten grams of sugar on Mother’s Day.”
I was about to agree – or maybe I wasn’t – when Dylan found a can with only seven grams of sugar per serving. “It’s pork and beans, though,” he said. “It doesn’t say ‘baked beans.'”
“That would be great; thank you,” I said, then hung up the phone, ecstatic that I’d limited my sugar intake to something almost reasonable.
I’d told the kids they could get some ice cream while they were at the store, even though it is 99% made from ingredients I can’t eat. Before they checked out, Shane sent me a photo of the ice cream they’d selected. Three half-gallons of Breyer’s and Turkey Hill, and two additional pints of Ben & Jerry’s. It seemed a bit much, so I texted back.
Is anything on sale?
I don’t think so.
Put the Ben & Jerry’s back if it’s not on sale.
Somehow, my struggle with sugar hasn’t affected them in the slightest.
Still, it was a glorious gift, having my well-educated children reading labels, scouring details, and successfully finding me a can of beans. My Mother’s Day could not have been any better.