That Kind Of Girl

Recently my nine year old has been participating in an after school running program. The kids stay after school and train with teacher training partners/role models in preparation for an upcoming local 5K race in May. Jack has been doing well with it, and he's having fun each and every week that the group has assembled.
Last Monday, one of my esteemed coworkers (who was running alongside Jack) asked, "So, why isn't your mom out here running with us?" And an honest Jack replied, "Well.  She just isn't the running kind of girl."

Wow.  What a true statement!  I so want to be the running kind of girl, but...  shaking my head.

But that got me thinking and reflecting.  What kind of girl am I?  Certainly not the health conscious, active, and fit kind in my kid's eyes.  And gosh, and I'd so like to be.  Jim more than makes up for what I lack in this image of a parent.  But still.  I'd like to bring something to the table here... for myself just as much as for my family.

And so last night, the stubborn part of me stuck out my jaw and did some spontaneous exercises with the kids.  It was fun.  And I'm a good kind of sore today.

And that was a small thing.  So I wanted more.

"Maybe," I thought to myself,  "I'll try to break some of my unhealthy eating habits."  The spinach smoothies were a new venture and made me feel sort of temporarily proud of myself.  I looked on Pinterest, again, for some inspiration. 

And so I found that the 'Greek yogurt advocates' caught my attention.  I'd never tried Greek yogurt before, and this wasn't the first time I'd heard about how wonderful this stuff is supposed to be for your health.  Anyway,  they convinced me, and I went out to buy some.  The Pinterest folk said that if I just "mixed in a package of dry ranch dressing, it would replace the taste of my ranch dips and cut out all that unnecessary fat." 

"Okay," I thought.  "Perfect.  Let's do this."

And so I did. Here's my Greek yogurt all mixed and yummy looking.  Carrot ready!

And then I tasted it.  It was okay.  But something just wasn't right.

Was it sort of sweet?

Yes.  I tried it again.  This was definitely sweet.  And it would never, never do.  A few more carrot bites.  I quickly began to get grossed out.

And so I went back to my computer.  Greek yogurt.  It said it right there on the screen!  Plain Greek yogurt!  They promised me this would work!  Liars!

And so I went back to the kitchen to look at my Greek yogurt that was pretty much breaking my heart.

Wait just a cotton pickin' minute. 

I'm apparently not a label reading kind of girl.  I'd purchased vanilla.  Not plain.  And this reminded me of the time I'd tried to make my friend, Andrea's, amazing salsa.  But instead of regular diced tomatoes, I'd come home with:

Basil, garlic, and oregano flavored diced tomatoes... that DO NOT replicate Andrea's amazing salsa in any way shape or form.  Trust me, I've tried it.

Sigh.

The Greek vanilla/ranch yogurt was promptly deposited in the appropriate place.

And out of disgust, I fixed myself some health conscious dinner.

I'm going to have to change my kid's image of his mother some other day.   

And you can just bite me, carrots.