I have a confession to make. I love Pop-tarts. Yes, those pastry impersonators with the taste and texture of cardboard. The snack with the dry edge surrounding the pseudo fruit filling and the colorful plastic-y icing with the sprinkles. What a treat!
And I love the new Pop-tart commercial. It transports me right back to my childhood, and long summer vacations, eating berries that grew in the woods, picking wildflowers along the side of the road and dreams…big dreams.
I had plans for my life. I was going to be a veterinarian, until I got bit by a dog. I was going to be a Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader until I got cut during tryouts in college, and I was going to live in a big city, until I had kids and opted instead for suburbia. And I wonder, did I give up on my dreams or were they simply replaced by new ones? Are we the most authentic version of ourselves when we are young?
I often hear of adults who say they are trying to find themselves. I have said those words myself, but when did I get lost? Was it when I got married and I learned to compromise as my husband and I merged from two to one? Or was it when I had children and my life took a back seat to theirs? I don’t regret the decision to get married and have kids, that was also a dream of mine, but now as I approach a new stage of life, I wonder if my inner child would recognize me at all.
With the perspective of hindsight, I can see the slow and subtle changes that transformed me from a child into an adult. Movies and dating replaced Tag and Red Rover, cars replaced bikes, Wuthering Heights replaced Old Yeller. Even my diet matured. Shredded wheat replaced Fruit Loops, coffee replaced Kool-Aid, and Godiva chocolates replaced pixie stix.
I want to live in Pop-tart Land. I want to play and laugh, and paint my house a sparkling frosted blueberry blue….ok, now I sound positively senile. My point is, does being an adult mean that fun is no longer allowed? I don’t always want to make the sensible choices. The ones that are good for my weight and my health. Sometimes I just want to eat Pop-tarts and pretend that it’s not too late to fly to Dallas.
To my readers:
This link will take you to the Pop-tart commercial if you haven’t seen it. Watch this and go buy yourself your favorite childhood treat! And feel free to leave a comment as to what you bought!
