Saturday, July 3, 2010

Eat Your Crust

Did your mom or grandmother tell you that when you were a kid? Mine did! I hate the crust. I didn't understand the concept of why the "crust" was so "nasty". My mom would say, "It's the same thing as the middle of the bread." I totally disagreed and so did my twin sister. We would hide our crust around the edge of the rim of the plate, underneath, just so that we could get excused for the table. The sad thing was that we always got caught.

Why is it that kids can pull the same old "hiding the bread crust trick and think they won't get caught?

I don't know what it was about the crust that made me dislike it. In fact, I was envious of the kids at school whose mom made their sandwiches with the crust off. My mom claimed that that was where all the vitamins were. Yeah, right!

I've gotten past the "I hate bread crust" stage. I'm not sure when it happened but it did. I discovered that it's really not that bad after all.

It's just like life to change or throw a curve ball at you. You think one way and suddenly, you're thinking totally different. You don't even realize it...it just sneaks up on you.

It's not maturity that causes this "new awakening". It's just that tastes change, as does life.

Before I hit the babysitting stage, I thought changing a poopy diaper would never be on my "things I did" list. After I figured out that babysitting meant changing diapers but it also meant a bit of change in my pocket, I learned to deal with it.

Did I settle for the "horrid" crust or did I learn to appreciate the taste? I'm not sure but my life is like that too. I can be walking on this path, smoothly or at least, by my own design...choosing what I like and don't like. Hiding the crusts and the flaws and insecurities. But you know what? they are found sooner or later. Just like that crust, they are revealed to others. Whatever it is that caused me to finally eat the whole sandwich without leaving the crust behind is the same and very reason that I'm learning to embrace all that is going on in my life as a process of growing. I admit that I don't necessarily like it but I believe that just like that crust, I'm going to one day realize that it really hasn't been so bad after all.

24 comments:

Mari said...

I didn't like crusts either, and sometimes I still leave them!
Great post!

Buckeroomama said...

I'm okay with bread crust even though I don't love them. Pie crusts, I always leave though. But then, Z loves them, so I just pass my pie crusts to her (!) --kinda weird that I'm passing over food I don't like to my kid instead of the other way around!

Christella D. Moody said...

What an astute posting. Eating the crust does apply to life. Fortunately, the crust of life is smaller than the rest of life.

I spent the past several months working on a national conference in Las Vegas that is finally over. That's why I had to leave blogging for awhile. It had been years since I spent that much time on something like that, but happily it went well...over 1700 participants and we got rave reviews. After resting a few more weeks, I hope to rejoin the community.

Thanks for checking on me.

Unknown said...

That was a lot to think about on this Monday morning. I will be thinking about it all day. I think I always ate the crusts. I will ask my Mom today when I see her :)

Debbie said...

I think we just get tired of having so many things displease us! Life is easier if we accept the crusts along with the poo:)

MilandDil Designs said...

Crust and poo in the same post -- and a valuable lesson learned from both. Thanks.

Ina in Alaska said...

I never minded eating the bread crust. But back in the day when I was a child, our mother would put COD LIVER OIL in our OJ or milk and that was just horrendous! I guess it was a fad among moms of the 60s but oh my it was horrific. When I asked her why the milk/juice tasted so bad she would say it was the milk of the spring cows, the cows had a different diet between seasons, that is why the milk tastes different, Ina. Oh and you should have seen how that cod liver oil settled on the bottom of the glass.

Yuck.

On to a non-yuck topic, Silas..... he is still in high school...... xoxoxo

Deidra said...

I was going to ask you if you were in our church yesterday to hear the sermon and then I saw that this was posted on Saturday! I guess I'm supposed to pay attention to this message about life changes.

Organic Motherhood with Cool Whip said...

Loved this. And loved the way you used that bread crust metaphor all the way through. I don't love crust, but I deal with it. And I think you are absolutely right. So many things in our lives we learn to accept, even when we've had strong opinions about them beforehand. And nowadays I even like some things that I once hated. Like spinach. And artichokes. And I'm pretty proud of myself for that too. (Hee hee!) xoxoxo

Lin said...

I think the crust thing is a control issue and a maturity thing, don't you? I never had an issue with crust, but I know some kids do. Does it really taste all that different?

As we age, I think we just overlook silly kid things like that and realize it isn't worth the effort. You pick your battles. Things like diaper changing just needs to be done and you do it. There's lots in life that just isn't worth the battle, right?

Anonymous said...

HA!!! I only removed the crust if the peanut butter and jelly sandwich was not cut in a triangle! But I never took it off of other sandwichs or toast. Just PBJ!

Veronica Lee said...

I love pie and pizza crusts but not bread crusts.

I guess crusts are just part and puzzle of life.

Have a nice day, Simone!

Joanna Jenkins said...

Now you've got ME thinking about crusts! I know I didn't like them as kids but now I think they're the best part of the break. Hmm, I'll be thinking about this one for a while.

Interesting post CCD. Thanks,
jj

Teresa @ Grammy Girlfriend said...

Grayson walk EVERYWHERE and FAST...Jack decided today that all the toys Gray brought to play with were toys he wanted...so he hid some of them...It was funny.

Donna B. said...

My grandsons don't like the crust either, so I cut it off for them and feed the crusts to the birds. That way, everyone is happy and there is so waste.

When the boys eat here, I have to share the crusts with our dog, Izzy. She LOVES bread. So half for Iz, half for the birds.

Petula said...

I noticed that my youngest daughter always leaves her crust behind. Every once in awhile when the sandwich is really good or she's extra hungry she'll eat it all. I try to get bread that makes good crust as well, but I still have trouble eating the ends. I have to camouflage them... that's way too much crust.

Am I like that in life? (I love how you tied that in.) IDK... I would like to just exist on the easiest, tastiest, softest part, but I guess that's not how life works. I'll have to sometimes eat the crust, sometimes hide it and sometimes make alternative arrangements.

Country Wings in Phoenix said...

Oh Sweetie...
I am laughing with you on this one. I too, remember hiding the crust under the edge of the plate thinking I could get away with it. Like you, it didn't work. Now today, the crust is my favorite part of the sandwich. Go figure?

I love this post. It so lightened my day and I thank you so much for sharing with me.

Oh and the newest picture of James is on my scrollbar. I took it the 4th of July. He is just the sweetest little thing, and that baby smell, oh sweetie we just can't get enough of him. Thank you for mentioning him.

Hope you have a beautiful afternoon. Country hugs sweetie and so much love, Sherry

Unknown said...

I never had a problem with crusts and mostly my kids are alright with them. I guess I'm lucky!

But in the metaphorical sense (I love your analogy with this, by the way), I get where you're coming from....all too well lately...

Ash said...

my mum would always say "think about all those poor hungry kids who dont have anything to eat!!" that would made me gobble up crusts or any food that i don't want, under a second. dont you just love mums?? :p

lovely and a post to think about over and over again so i'm following ya! :)

~ash's mum

Mandy said...

It's just like you to compare the crusts to your life and make it into a valuable lesson! That's what I love about you Simone -- that and the fact that we enjoy talking about food so much too! :)

Nowadays, you can sprinkle cheese and seasonings on that crust. You can dip your crust into ranch or marinara sauce. You can make shapes out of it. Have fun with that crust and hopefully you'll learn to love it just as much, if not more than the rest of the sandwich/pizza or whatever it is!

Veronica Lee said...

Hi again, Simone. Funny, but my comment seems to have disappeared! It's the same on my blog. It shows 14 comments on the dashboard but displays only 11 and I swear I saw the 3 missing comments earlier!!!

Mom et al said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Mom et al said...

LOL, this is awesome! My mother also claimed the vitamins were in the crust. She did the same thing with broccoli florets when all I wanted to eat were the stems. I love the metaphor,and hope that things get easier for you soon.

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