Betrayed by My Last Indulgence

The season of Lent is well underway and I've gotten past the worst of my chocolate withdrawal.

That Princess Pinky has discovered the delights of Little Debbie Swiss Rolls bothers me not at all. I haven't walked past the pantry door for at least three minutes. And I'm totally not obssessing over the lonely little roll she couldn't finish that's peacefully waiting in a ZipLok bag for someone to love it with a big cup of java tall glass of milk.

But I digress.

While I do give up everything worth eating all sweets for Lent, I don't give up gum. And during these prayerful days, while Princess Pinky and Prince Tatertot root through their Valentine's Day party goodie bags from school (must they overflow with sugar?), a pack of gum is never far from my fingertips.

So I was happy to swing through CVS last week, throw down a few ECB's and coupons, and walk out with some free gum for Knute and me - Big Red for the Big Knute and Juicy Fruit for me.

Remember Juicy Fruit?

I hadn't bought a pack of this in years since I'm so cavity-phobic. The new look on the outside of the package is quite nice. But some things never change.

Or so I thought.

I pulled out a stick, unwrapped the foil, and gasped at what I saw:

Yellow?

When did this happen? When did the good folks at Wrigley add yellow dye to my fave gray gum?

If you know, please - don't tell me. I feel old enough as it is; if I have an actual date, I'll brood over this indefinitely.

This leaves me wondering: other than the cluttered life that comes with mommying - and the little worry-lines that pop up overnight when you realize that you may be parenting the next Evil Knievel - what are the small things that get you when it comes to getting older growing deeper in wisdom?

WM