Am I Really Going to Return my Peanut Butter Zone Bars to Costco?

So, last week I bought the package of zone bars at Costco and they come with the fudge graham and peanut butter flavor. Allie doesn't like the peanut butter one (which why is that, because 3 out of 5 days during the week she always has peanut butter for lunch??), so she gives me those to keep and she gets the other ones for her to take to school for her snack. So, over the course of the last week I have eaten 5 or 6 of them. . .

Then Costco leaves me a message (which, by the way, how in the world do they know I bought those???? that will make me think twice what I buy there. . .next time I might get a call from them that says "hey lady, I think you have purchased too much unhealthy food - most people only buy one jar of chocolate covered raisins not one jar of chocolate covered raisins and another jar of jelly bellys at the same time!) telling me that zone bars are doing a voluntary recall of their peanut butter bars and I can bring it back to the store for a refund. . .

Ok - so I will admit - I momentarily panic - the thought of food poisoning freaks me out and I hate throwing up - when that happens, I revert back to a child and cry and whine and want to be taken care of. Then I think if I am going to die of food poisoning, eating a peanut butter zone bar would not be the food I chose to end my life with.. . .that is kinda depressing.

But after I express my concern all over Facebook and most everyone assures me that I would have been sick by now, I begin to get a grip and realize that I am fine.

But, I still have about half the box of Peanut Butter zone bars left - so, what to do?

Someone I work with, suggested if I am not going to want to eat them I can donate them to food bank. . .HELLO. . .if this product has any potential of making anyone sick I would never do that AND, I should donate them to a food bank so someone who can't afford food and probably doesn't have health insurance should eat them and get sick??? Won't that ultimately cost me more money than the $7 I originally spent on them at Costco as somewhere along the line you and I will be paying for that person who couldn't pay for their health care? No, not an option.

I could simply eat them? Well. .. .gotta tell you, I'm a little uncomfortable with that. I mean if someone is recalling their product, voluntarily or not, do you really intentionally eat them? Nah, plus I would not get the sympathy nod if I got sick after my own stupidity. . .totally not worth it on so many levels (and yes, I will admit it - I don't pass up the sympathy nods every now and then when they are deserved - makes me feel loved and cared for at times!).

I can return them to Costco. . .well, if I was already going to Costco, I could see doing that - but I'm not. So, as I see it, to return them to get a few dollars back (and how much will they give me back because I'm not returning the fudge graham ones that come in the same package???) will cost me much more in the long run as this is how I picture it. . .

I spend the gas money to drive to Costco (okay, not so far away, but I'm really trying to see if its worth it. . . ) when I don't have to go there, I see the return line is out the door (seems to always be that even a month after the holidays) and I groan. Allie says, "Mom, that line is soooo long - do we really have to wait? " I tell her that maybe if we go in and just look around the line will be shorter. So, I go in and how can you walk into Costco without buying something???? Even if its only a couple of items, its not stuff I planned to get or necessarily needed. . .so, we buy our few things and then we are hungry and so we buy lunch (which is the cheapest lunch on the planet - yet money I didn't need to spend) and we finally get in maybe a reasonable line to return the 5 or 6 zone bars I have left.

So, you suggest I wait to go return the zone bars when I don't have Allie - let's be honest here, I wouldn't feel like waiting in line either and I probably would go in the store myself "to kill time" to hope the line was shorter and buy things too!!

So, no, I have decided that in light of my promise to my husband to curb my unnecessary spending and the reality that returning the zone bars to Costco will end up in just that, I am opting to keep the Peanut Butter Zone Bars, but not eat them. . .until such time as the voluntary recall is lifted.

Hope they are still good by then. . .because if not, I'm out like $7!

Outta The Mouth of Babes. . .

Allie: Mommy, I want to be sisters with Malia and Sasha Obama.

Mommy Meryl: Why?

Allie: Because they got to go on a 'avenger hunt in The White House and find the Jonas Brothers in their house.

Mommy Meryl: Ahhh, pretty cool.

Allie: Yeah. I'm so glad you voted for Barack Obama. . .maybe if Daddy knew about the Jonas Brothers he would have voted for Obama too.

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When a Person Dies, Do They Still Get Older?

In Allie's six years, she has had 3 experiences with those close to her dying - 2 dogs and her paternal Grandfather. I have to say, she took those in stride - like most 2 (when our first dog, Audi died), 3 (when our 2nd dog Budi died) and 5 year olds (when her grandpa died) do. She wasn't overly sad or weepy - more matter-of-fact about it.

As she gets older, she is much more emotional about her dogs and grandpa. Out-of-the-blue, Allie will ask questions about death and dying - I'm sure typical questions that most kids ask, that most parents really have no answer to (i.e., what does it feel like to die, can you still hear and see your friends and family when you die, do you eat when you die, are there restaurants in heaven, can dead people go swimming, is it cold, etc).

My father-in-law's birthday is in October and Allie asked a simple, yet thought provoking question. Even though Grandpa is dead, does he still get older on his birthday? My initial answer, was "no, I don't think so". But then Allie said that didn't make sense. I asked her why and she told me it was because if his body was buried in the ground, his body was still there and why wouldn't it get older each year. I thought for a minute and decided how could I immediately dismiss her thinking? So, while I was silent, she asked me what I thought about what she said. I told her that it sounded good to me.

I thought it we could let it go. But no - she said, "well, is it true"? I said, I'm not sure. She then said we should ask our Rabbi because they know everything about God and "stuff". I thought that was a great idea.

Even though we have seen our rabbi lots of times since then, Allie never remembered to ask. We were at the Temple selling girl scout cookies yesterday when Allie remembered she had a question for our rabbi. After he bought his girl scout cookies, she asked him her question. And he was just as stumped as I was!

So, he tried to take a rabbinical path and discuss with Allie all the wonderful things you can do to remember a person when they die and how you can honor their memory and that it doesn't matter what the answer is, its more important to just remember and celebrate them.

Do you think Allie was satisfied with that answer? No. She wasn't interested in what he was saying - however eloquent and thoughtful and inspiring it was. She just wanted the answer to her question. We left the rabbi's office, happy that he bought girl scout cookies, but unsatisfied as she wondered who would know her answer because someone HAS to know.

So, after our stint at the Temple, Allie had her Brownies meeting and I thought all was forgotten about death and dying for the moment. Not so.

For her bedtime story, she wanted to read Saying Goodbye to Lulu by Corinee Demas (which I strongly recommend if you want a way to introduce a young child to the concept of a pet dying) - one of her preschool teachers gave her that when she was 3.5 and our dog Budi was dying of cancer. It is a beautifully written book - but a tear jerker!

I tried to steer her away from reading it last night and she asked me why and I said, "well, its just so sad - do you really want to read it now?". She said yes, that it was okay to be sad sometimes and she was really missing Budi & Audi and that book makes her feel better. So we read it and I'm trying to hide/stiffle my tears (why don't we like to let our kids see us cry?) and all of a sudden, Allie looks at me and starts crying and simply says, "that book always makes me cry - how about you?" So, then I feel soooooooooooooooooo silly for stifling my tears and I say, "yes, me too". And she says, "Then, how come I can't hear you cry?"

Wow, they don't let us get away with anything, huh?