DINK

Why do I make up words? I rarely drink water. Even when it's purified with a Brita filter, I don't really like the taste of water.

And eight glasses of water day? That's too much for me. Hey, I'm a coffee drinker, three or four cups, plus dink ... a glassful when I'm thirsty!

How come? All those years of dance classes ... awful lavatories, in studio classrooms, standing in line waiting your turn, everybody knowing you need to pee ... As a young dancer I learned to drink less, and NOT to drink before class.

The fact is, I don't perspire a lot when I'm exercising, except in the middle of the summer when it's 80 degrees or more in my studio. Then I get hot enough -- perspire enough to work on split stretches, and drink another glass or two of dink.

"Dink" isn't baby talk. It's a shortcut. I'm not going to say "pass the bottle of Crystal Light, please," every time I want a refill. Dink is the Crystal Light we drink rather than water -- it's a low-calorie powder one buys in packets from which you can make a glassful, or tinfoil cups (we buy the cups) from which you make a half-gallon of your favorite flavor.

Mine is lemonade. I've tried the others ... the pink lemonade's good. the orange, raspberry, tea, cherry -- no thanks -- the flavor stays with you, like candy. Therefore, "ours" is lemonade.

Sure, we'd love "diet" Sprite, 7-up , Coke, (especially Fresca) but toting those economy-sized big bottles up and down the stairs -- that's a no-no, in if you live on the top floor in New York City.
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I have two sturdy, plastic, gallon-sized containers , and we keep both on the top shelf of the fridge -- the fresh jug of dink in the rear, the current one toward the front.

"Dink" is a word, as well as a tradition in my family. It's the beverage that my guys request. Not because they're catering to me, they say "Pass the dink, or "I want some more dink" -- it tastes good, it's refreshing like water, clears the palate -- doesn't distract from what we're eating.

Don't worry, if you're coming to dinner -- we'll offer you water, wine, or dink . (You might end up loving it.)

Hey, hey --the family that dinks together, stays together.