Kool-Aid Dreams, Sugar-Free Reality
Growing up, our kitchen was basically a shrine to non-sugary food. Cereal came in shades of brown and tan, full of twigs, nuts, and the promise of “regularity.” The sugar cereals—the bright, cartoon-covered boxes that called to every kid on Saturday mornings—were strictly forbidden. I swear, if it didn’t say bran somewhere on the box, it didn’t make it past the pantry door.
The same rules applied to drinks. Kool-Aid was a four-letter word. Sugar was the enemy, and my mom was the general leading the war against it. While other kids stirred neon-red powder into their water and shouted “Oh yeah!” like the Kool-Aid Man himself, we were mixing up Crystal Light—because apparently, if it was sugar-free, it was “just as good.”
It wasn’t.
Crystal Light was the beverage equivalent of eating cardboard with a hint of lemon scent. The packets came in delicate pastel colors, promising refreshment, but what they delivered was mostly artificial aftertaste and regret.
Still, we drank it. Because that’s what we had. Lemonade, iced tea, and the occasional wild card—“raspberry ice,” which sounded fancy but tasted like chemicals and lost dreams, not to mention the red coloring stained your mouth for a week. We pretended it was refreshing. We even served it in fancy glasses when company came over, as if adding ice cubes made it taste like something other than guilt-free sadness.
Every once in a while, I’d visit a friend’s house and catch a glimpse of that sugary goodness—the Kool-Aid pitcher. Opaque plastic, sweating with condensation, filled with liquid sunshine. I’d drink one glass and feel my taste buds come alive. So this is what joy tastes like, I’d think, before returning home to another round of sugar-free enlightenment.
These days, I still don’t drink Kool-Aid—too much sugar—but I haven’t strayed far. Now I’m all about Skittles Zero Sugar drink packets. Five to ten calories each and I’m in love. They’ve got the flavor of Kool-Aid without all the sugar. My tiny drink mix cupboard could double as a mood ring—depending on the flavor I grab. And honestly, the rainbow organization of it all trips my trigger in the best way.
At night, I mix them up like a science experiment—one bottle of each color so I have a rainbow waiting for me in the fridge the next day. Strawberry, cherry, orange, green apple, blue raspberry, and grape. It’s my daily lineup of artificial joy.
As for the chemicals I’m probably ingesting? Yeah… let’s not talk about that.
Still, I like to think I’ve finally found balance: grown-up enough to skip the sugar, but still kid enough to crave the color. So no, the Kool-Aid Man doesn’t crash through my walls anymore—but if he ever offered me a Skittles Zero Sugar packet?
Oh yeah, I’d drink that.
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