All I Wanted Was Kool-Aid - I Got Life Instead
Posted: Sunday, January 03, 2010
by Roschelle Nelson
When I become an adult I'll be able to drink all the Kool-Aid I want and YOU won't be able t
I remember mumbling this to myself at least a thousand times growing up as a kid.
My mother made it abundantly clear the only thing I could help myself to in the kitchen without her permission was water.
It may sound a little dictatorial to some. I'm sure it was just her way of making sure I didn't eat myself into an early grave by consuming 20 twinkies, 10 powdered doughnuts and gallons of syrupy sweet beverages in a 24 hour period.
It's funny how the things that are so important to you during your formative years almost cease to exist as you grow older.
Establishing lasting relationships, rearing kids, finding success in your professional career, cleaning up puppy poop, kitty litter boxes, paying bills and attempting to build a little nest egg to fall back on during your golden years all seem to diminish those paramount proclamations we make when we're too young to know any better.
I hadn't thought about my Kool-Aid proclamation in years until this morning.
I was scrolling through my Facebook status updates reading the comments and looking at the photos of schoolmates and their families when a flood of childhood memories came rushing in out of nowhere.
The people who chewed food in the cafeteria with their mouths open in an effort to render you so nauseous you'd have no choice but to give them your lunch; the people who tucked their hand underneath their armpit and made that horrific farting noise; the people who threw spitballs at you and chased you until you were on the verge of collapse pretending there was a bugger on the end of their finger; the people who swore an oath to never marry or have children - all of them (me included) are adults with our own families.
Where does the time go?
I always wondered how on earth my mother could remember her childhood. Surely those stories she told me about similar peer pressure she had faced were so ancient only an archaeologist certified in interpreting hieroglyphics would be able to decipher.
Now I know those stories weren't so ancient at all. I know this because I find myself telling my two boys "When I was a kid......blah blah blah" - and I know they're thinking the same thing I was.
Just last week I received the honorary 'You're-acting-just-like-Na
I have finally arrived.
I am officially my mother and as honored as I am to wear the title proudly, the irony of it all is
I DON'T EVEN BUY KOOL-AID.
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Top-level comments on this article: (5 total)I know about that sentimental journey through the past. You have a very cool bio.Please log in to respond to this comment.Thanks for commenting! Those sentimental journeys are always fun.Please log in to respond to this comment.
I loved this article Roschelle! It made me smile. You have arrived!Please log in to respond to this comment.
I guess we all remember thinking, "When I grow up, I'm gonna..." Thanks for the memories, Roschelle.Please log in to respond to this comment.
Roschelle,Man, you can write! What a wonderful article that naturally brought back my own childhood memories; however, I sounded much like my mother when my children were a lot younger than 18. I think it was the first time I said 'No' to my oldest son as an infant. My mom had had warned me many years earlier, "The first time your toddler slaps your face, stop it right then and there." And, she was right.Thanks for the memories!Please log in to respond to this comment.
Memories - I was just wondering this AM if writer's had better recall than the average non-writer.... we have to dig up our gems from somewhere - thanks for sharing this one with us...MarijoPlease log in to respond to this comment.
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