Whenever I run my trifecta of errands at Target, Charter One Bank and Kroger’s near Adams and Maple roads, the highlight is often grocery shopping, a task I approach with considerable optimism. It must have something to do with the gathering of food, even if I’m not much good at cooking it.

Maybe it goes back to my own mother. Even though she worked, she seemed to enjoy the process of meal planning and stocking the kitchen with essentials. She'd figure out what meals she was going to make, then jot the ingredients along with the usual staples — bread, milk, eggs, Miracle Whip and other stuff you can't live without — on the back of an envelope. This seemed like a nice, grown-up task to me. Taking care of your family through food. 

Imagine, then, how exciting it was for me to finally have a family of my own to shop for and provide sustenance. It was one thing to buy Stouffer's French Bread Pizzas and pints of cottage cheese for myself when I was single. But it was quite another to have a family — my husband (whose fridge was stocked with water and mustard when I met him) — and our two children.

Finally, I could do it. I could patiently examine the cupboards and the refrigerator and decide, oh yes, we need milk and Cheerios and Cheez-Its. I could consult recipes, ones I'd been cutting out of magazines and newspapers for years, and add ingredients I'd never heard of — roasted red peppers, fennel seeds, fish sauce — to my list. I could peruse food items designed for children: yogurt in a tube; red, green and blue Goldfish crackers; Lunchables. 

And for many years, that is what I did. It almost didn't matter that the kids weren't as impressed at the repackaging of familiar favorites as I was or that the Lunchables sat in the fridge long after their expiration date and had to be thrown out. I was doing it! I was taking care of my family! I was providing sustenance!

When the kids turned into teenagers, they weren’t so accommodating. I’d get a little tired of the complaints when I didn’t bring home a lifetime supply of Gatorade or cookies and ice cream. Sometimes, they were a bit impertinent, those two, preferring to order pizza over the meal I had planned from carefully purchased ingredients.

But the problem for me was the habit was so ingrained. I couldn’t kick fantasies of food and sustenance and all the wonderful snacks I’d buy. We’d have apples! Fig Newtons! Vitamin water! And there I went, gallivanting down the fruit and veggie aisle like a contestant on Dancing with the Stars.

But was I crazy? There were days I would have preferred pizza, too, especially when I worked away from home. The bananas I bought turned to mush when left unconsumed. And even when the cupboards were stocked, someone invariably yelled, “There’s nothing to eat!”

Ah, well. With one leaving the nest, I suppose I don’t have to worry so much about stocking the kitchen with items palatable only to teens. Instead, I can focus on shopping for more sophisticated foods like, maybe, truffles or kumquats (after I figure out what they are). Or we could eat out more, which could negate the need to grocery shop at all.

But I’m not sure I’m ready to give up the habit. I like to shop, to gather; to provide sustenance! Besides, I think I’ll have a hard time passing up Sunkist Fruit Snacks when they’re on sale.

I’ve got to come up with a different plan.

Perhaps I can run a carload of Smartfood Popcorn and Kashi Granola Bars up to my daughter’s dorm room once a month, and with our son still at home, focus on heartier manly snacks for him and his friends.

Seems like there’s no finer time to join Costco, eh?