The Prompt: In the form of a paragraph, write a letter to your 11-year-old self with advice or criticism. (Thanks to Katie Widman for this topic!)
Dear Bobbie,
No matter how much you will not like what I have to tell you, I DEMAND that you follow my advice in this letter. Much of your future happiness and contentment will depend upon it. You know those fun trips to the grocery store when Mom lets you pick out two of your favorite items, and you choose Frosted Flakes and chocolate ice cream? Stop it! Now! Instead, beg her to indulge you in four items: two types of fruits and two types of vegetables. I know that you sit shaking your head, finding me foolish. Yet, I ask: would you rather become a bitter 38-year-old woman who begrudgingly stuffs vegetables down her gullet? I think not! Believe me when I say that a life of Doritos and Jab's Pizza may sound fabulous, but hours pouring over vegetable dish recipes on Pinterest (you will learn the significance of this gem in your life later) does not make you feel fabulous at all. You spend hours trying to find ways to make vegetables not taste like vegetables when you should instead spend your time working on that amazing idea you have created for a novel. You spend moments of your life you will never get back trying to figure out what flavor of kale chips you can tolerate. Don't scoff at them--they stave off cancer! While you may think that you will deal with this issue later in life and that the vegetables Mom serves will suffice, your foolishness will catch up to you. Run to the vegetable tray! Ask for salads in your lunch box! Accept only fruit salads for your treats! Not only will this make you a svelte youngster, but you will also feel so full of energy. Say good-bye to your days of snacking slothdom and hello to the mighty power of fruits and vegetables!
Love,
Bobbie
P.S. While some of this vocabulary may evade the comprehension of an 11-year-old, you and I both know you can handle it. After all, one day you will stand before a crowd of admiring people as you beam with pride as Valedictorian! However, do not use that as an excuse to relax academically. Just focus on the fruits and vegetables, and the rest will work itself out.
Southern Fried Okra
ReplyDeleteLike you, Ms. Serensky, I loved going to the grocery store with my mom as a little kid. However, my reasons differed from yours, because my mom would almost never listen to me. So, I went in sheer hope of convincing my mom. Like you, I always hoped she would buy the good snacks: more cookies, chips, and delicious cereal. But, I never had any luck. I guess I should thank my mom for developing my healthy eating habits at a young age, but I wish I could have eaten the more appealing foods.
ReplyDeleteI bet that vegetables help you run fast, too. To explain this theory a bit more:
DeleteBradley = Fast runner!
Ms. Serensky = Not so much.
I'll make salad.
ReplyDeleteSimilarly to you and Bradley, I also enjoyed trips with Mom to the local Heinen's. But unlike you both, I happen to possess a strange love for vegetables. This love manifested itself most obviously during preschool, when I once asked my mom to buy an eggplant I saw in the vegetable section and proceeded to carry it around like a babydoll for the next two weeks. I also faced ridicule in the cafeteria when I brought bags of mushrooms for lunch. Having said this, I agree that kale chips taste awful.
ReplyDeleteBelieve it or not, I find pizza flavored kale chips rather tasty!
DeleteAt a young age I remember spending weekends on the couch for hours submissvely eating my way through a bag of Lay's. At 18 I indulge in chocolate to ease my stress, establishing a cycle of eating chocolate and then experiencing guilt afterwards. My family does not uphold any good eating habits, explaining why most of them either have stints in their heart or take a multitude of meds. Therefore, I have this theory that I will collapse from a heart attack at a young age. I have tried to choose healthy options, hoping to prolong my inevitable death, but chocolate sits in a bowl beckoning me...waiting until I give in.
ReplyDeleteI find this comment simultaneously humorous and ominous. Walk. Away. From. The. Chocolate.
DeleteIf I wrote a second letter to my eleven-year-old self, it would sound a lot like yours. In fifth grade, I had the fastest metabolism imaginable and never worried about what food I ate or how much television I watched. Flash forward one year to sixth grade and pack on the pounds. After simultaneously breaking my wrist in a snowboard accident (apparently a valid reason not to run for three months) and finding the magic behind peanut butter-covered Oreos, I lost all sense of self control. Sadly, I did not recognize the importance of eating healthy food until my junior year of high school when I ate my first whole banana... and spit it out.
ReplyDeleteWow. Peanut butter-covered Oreos sound delicious. I'll probably think about them all day.
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