"Why Don't You Eat Chocolate?" Mama Rika Answers the Question

It is a funny thing. People seem almost horrified when they discover I don't eat chocolate. Nearly always it is assumed that I don't like the taste of chocolate. Au contrair (or however you spell that)! To do the question justice, I have to tell the story. I find myself explaining the why of it frequently. I figure maybe next time, I'll just send the questioner to this post. ;)

Once upon a time, about 20 years ago {yikes!} I was expecting my firstborn. I was so thrilled at the thought of being a mom. This was one of my lifelong dreams! I pondered about the kind of mom I would be. I thought of what I would do with my child, what I would say, how I would act, what I would teach him or her and more. As I was thus thinking, my thoughts turned to what I could do now, right now, for my child.

One of the things that came to my mind was that I could choose to eat healthily. This would give my baby the best possible environment to grow and have a strong and healthy body. I thought about things that were good for me and things that were not. {Drinking, smoking or drugs were not something I had ever done, so that didn't factor in as something to improve on.} Chocolate, on the other hand, was something I quite enjoyed, yet I knew it wasn't healthy.

Chocolate has caffeine, which is the same drug that is in coffee and many soft drinks. I refused to eat those products, so I had to ask myself why would I consume caffeine via chocolate? This was a bit of a tough issue, because chocolate is yummy and you find it everywhere! At church, at parties, restaurants, grocery stores, as prizes, on holidays, etc. People serve this treat all the time!

It didn't take me too long to decide, however, that I could do without it for the benefit of my children. I decided to completely refrain from eating chocolate because that would actually be easier than just trying to go for limiting chocolate! I decided it would probably be easy to be a chocoholic. I did cut myself some slack, however. I decided that white chocolate would not be off limits. That way, I could still have a bit of a vice without it being such a readily available one since white chocolate treats are not nearly as common as regular chocolate treats.

I found myself turning down quite a few desserts over the years. {That in and of itself is not a bad thing!} Most of the time that I would give my refusal, people would offer a second or third time. Rather than continually saying "no", it was easier to say, "no thanks, I don't eat chocolate." Letting people know that I don't eat chocolate makes it easier to abide by. People that know me would be sure to tease/taunt if they saw a chocolate morsel on its way to my lips. {Peer pressure can be a good tool.}

After I gave up chocolate, Kevin followed suit a couple of years later. If you ask him, it wasn't a big deal because he isn't overly fond of it anyway. The thing he misses the most is hot cocoa on cold days. I wouldn't mind a Reeses peanut butter cup on occasion. But, there are enough other yummy things in this world to eat that it all works out okay. :)

Most of our children have also followed suit on the no-chocolate thing. Some claiming they don't like the taste either.

So, that is the story. Do I abstain from chocolate because I have great willpower? No, I abstain because I don't!

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