Around Town: Tapatío and other surprises
Things I’ve learned since becoming a grandmother:
1. The big surprise was the near impossibility of buying Tapatío outside of Southern California.
Tapatío is produced in Vernon, Calif. Many grocery stores stock it, but I can’t find any in our new granddaughter’s neighborhood. Even Safeway, with some stores morphed into a miserable Target clone, with gardening tools and low-end cold cuts, did not sell Tapatío. Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s are ubiquitous, but neither stocks Tapatío hot sauce. If you fly, TSA will seize oversized Tapatío bottles. If you drive, the bottles could break. What to do? The Tapatío website sells shirts, coffee mugs and a $9 gallon jug, complete with a pump. If you are considering the addition of a grandchild, rule No. 1: order Tapatío.
2. Car seats have expiration dates and “four out of five child safety seats [are] being used incorrectly.” That’s why the Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford provides a free car seat fitting station. The service technicians at Stanford: “Ensure that their child’s car seat has not been recalled. Advise on how to choose an age-, height- and weight-appropriate car seat. Instruct and demonstrate how to install and use the appropriate car seat in the vehicle. Instruct and demonstrate how to correctly place a child in the appropriate car seat. Answer any questions parents or caregivers may have regarding child passenger safety.”
Why can’t we do this in La Cañada?
3. What’s in a name? Months before her arrival, our granddaughter’s parents asked all four prospective grandparents, “What do you want to be called?” This was a novel idea. By the time I was born, as the youngest of half-siblings and all my cousins, our grandparents already had names, God-given and immutable. I didn’t realize that the birth of a grandchild would result in a new name, not just for the baby, but for us.
4. My work wardrobe doesn’t work on my days off. Everything must be washable, so I’ve abandoned Bill Cunningham’s weekly New York, man-on-the-street, fashion podcasts for a regular review of the Accidental Icon style blog (at www.accidentalicon.com), which is run by a wise social-welfare professor at Fordham University whose obsession with white shirts, flat shoes, sunglasses and great hair is instructive for all generations, including the fashion essentials for any grandmother.
5. I’ve finally learned that fitness is essential. Kudos to my trainer, Muscle Mike Padgett, for insisting on all those bench squats, egg whites and (modified) planks. Now that the baby is here, the metabolic boost of better musculature has increased my metabolism and helps offset the wine and ice cream, at the end of the day, whenever we visit. Oh, and the chocolates. Wine goes better with chocolate.
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ANITA SUSAN BRENNER is a longtime La Cañada Flintridge resident and an attorney with Law Offices of Torres and Brenner in Pasadena. Contact her at anitasusan.brenner@yahoo.com. Follow her on Instagram @realanitabrenner, Facebook and on Twitter @anitabrenner.