The Lovely Magic of Spicy Chips

What’s the last movie that made you cry, you ask? I want to answer, the one I’m in. But that would sound self-pitying and if there’s anything I can’t stand it’s wallowing along with chocolate chip cookies that are limp and falling apart like the one I just ate.

The cookie was dessert after eating a little bag of Crunchy Cheetos which, in my opinion, are way better than regular Cheetos. I have little bags of Cheetos, crunchy and not, along with a few assorted bags of chips left over from packing lunches for Street Angels. Paulina thinks I bought them for her but erred in not buying spicy chips (Doritos) exclusively.

A few weeks ago, I surprised her with a bag of Doritos and a bottle of weird looking blue juice when I picked her up from day camp. I whispered to her, loud enough for one of the day camp leaders to hear, “There’s Doritos in the car.”

“Oh,” the leader said, “Grandparents can do that.” She laughed. I shrugged. Yeah, if I was a real parent, I’d be showing up with carrot sticks and tap water or nothing because whoever it was I was picking up (name any one of the other four kids I raised) could just wait until dinner, don’t you know, because eating snacks ruins your appetite, for heaven’s sake and we can’t fucking have that.

I’m into the joyful look of a four-year old with her own bag of Doritos and bottle of weird looking blue juice. “You bought this for me?” she asks. Yes, I did, little lady, and there’s more where that came from. Not often, just often enough and unexpected enough to be delightful. People evolve over time, right? That’s my little evolution. I no longer give much of a shit about snacking before dinner. A couple of hard-boiled eggs will nullify practically any hideous snack. I think the same thing about outrageously surgary cereals. I don’t care anymore. I’m not dying on those little hills like I used to.

Today when we pick up Paulina, I am packing a peanut butter sandwich, chips, maybe an applesauce, and a bag of juice (the ones where you poke a hole in the bag with a pointed straw). This more elaborate meal is because we are going straight from day camp to her new school for K5 family orientation. Yes, Granny is going to get oriented.

There’ll probably be a whole session on healthy snacks.

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Note: My husband and I are legal guardians for our four-year old granddaughter, Paulina. Her mother (our daughter) passed away in June. We are facing this new challenge in our lives with good humor, occasional hysteria, and plenty of spicy chips.