Birthday Cake-You Are Never Too Old

The whir of the beater grinds the metal bowl. My mom dumps in two boxes of Betty Crocker white cake mix. It is my birthday. Crack, one egg, two eggs-it has been thirty-three years. She has made the same cake every one of them. Betty Crocker white cake mix, oil, and eggs. The beater grinds.
With precision, up swoops the Kitchen Aid. A quick twist and the silver bowl springs into action. A floured sheet cake pan awaits the gooey concoction; I await the drippy bowl. My mom pours and shakes the pan to even the batter. She spreads the top with a spatula; with an index finger I swipe Betty Crocker to my lips. The joy of adding another year is in the mix.
Rattle. The metal on metal of the pan as it hits the oven rack in a preheated 350-degree oven. The midday sun shines through the kitchen. I await the cutting of the top and my afternoon birthday snack-hot cake and freshly mixed icing.
Nothing fancy around our house. Crisco and box frosting- mom says that Crisco is the secret; butter is a little too strong. Pour the powder into a Pyrex bowl. Stir with a spatula. The warmth of the cake fills the kitchen. Only fifteen minutes left.
Timing is everything; let the frosting set. Get four bowls down. One for yellow, one for red, one for blue, and one for green; it isn’t a Birthday cake if it isn’t nice and colorful. This year will be a big locomotive; Andy loves his trains.
The aroma is unbearable as the buzzer goes off. Two oven-mits from the drawer and out it comes, onto the tile. I pour a glass of milk and the top is carved as promised. I politely borrow from the vat of white frosting with a knife. Ah, birthdays, you are never too old.

Pickle Juice Pops

On Unwrapped the other night, there was a segment about “Pickle-juice pops.” Apparently kids go crazy for them, as they fit the general sour candy spot that a lot of kids have a fetish for. Pickle pops, however, have only 3 calories and no sugar per a one ounce pop. Sodium is perhaps their main draw back, pickle fans take note. Check them out.

http://bobspicklepops.com/

The Juice Box Jungle

Beep, beep, beep-the six o’ clock alarm rings. Shower, brush your teeth, and off to the kitchen, hopefully to make school lunches. Instead, “Fifth grade, you get six bucks for lunch. Seventh grade, six bucks for your lunch. High school, eight bucks for McDonald’s now-a-day’s.”

Gone are the days of ants-on-a-log and salami sandwiches. “Wanna trade your Sunkist fruit-roll-up for this brownie?” Parents knew what went into our brown bags or at least knew that we were trading for something mildly harmless that a PTA mother had probably baked.

A five-dollar bill represents countless possibilities for a child’s potential lunch. The most enticing items children reach for are often the highest in calories and lowest in nutritional value. Often, high calorie items are inexpensive, which allows children to get a “bigger bang for their buck” on “empty calorie items.”

Childhood obesity is a serious medical condition. According to the Mayo Clinic, children who are obese are more prone to develop diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol.

Often, our mornings are rushed. We hardly have time for a cup of coffee, let alone time to spread peanut butter and jelly on two slices of bread. Will the kids even eat the stuff? Will they just get a Snicker’s instead?

You can hope that your kids eat their pretzels and drink their juice box. Being a parent is holding up your end of the deal. If your kids have a healthy alternative, at least you gave it to them. That is all you can really do as a parent. Try and do your best.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/childhood-obesity/DS00698

Donuts, Family and Saturdays

“Can I have donut holes, dad? And Chocolate milk?”
“One or the other.”  I watch my son gleefully race up to the case and point.  Hot, fresh, fried dough.  Not the most nutritious thing in the world for a child, however, it is Saturday morning.  My son races back.
“Please, please.  Donut holes and chocolate milk.”
“Well, if you help rake the leaves this afternoon, maybe.”  This is one of the rare chances I have to bargain with my six your old to do chores.  I move forward in the line.  Several parents from school seem to be making the same Saturday ritual.
We try all week to get the kids to not eat Snickers for their afternoon snack, however, there is something about Saturday morning and donuts.  Get everybody in the mini-van and get down to the donut shop.  Who says there isn’t fun for the whole family?  This is the one moment of the week that I do not hear a gripe or a nay-say when I ask if anybody wants to come along on an outing.
Nobody is too busy talking on the phone.  Nobody seems to be too busy with practice or homework.  I just say, “Donut shop,” on Saturday, and magically the family seems to be all for one.  It’s a few extra carbs and a few extra calories, I know, but sometimes it takes sweet things to bring us all together.  “Now do you want a maple bar or an apple fritter?”