My rating tonight after shutting the TV and announcing it was time to start our bedtime routine.
If you live in my house, you are constantly aware of the type of job you’re doing not only as a parent, but as a human being. Why? Because our preschooler has developed a very detailed rating system that puts Yelp and Rotten Tomatoes to shame.
That’s right, at any given time, Mr. KK and I are given immediate ratings and feedback, delivered through the complex rating system knows as: Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down.
Imagine if you could use this rating system as adults in real life???
When your waiter at a restaurant asks how you like your meal, you could give him a big Thumbs Down.
At work, when someone in a meeting throws out a ridiculous idea, you simply reply with Two thumbs Down.
And, after a decent first date, instead of the awkward kiss at the front door, you can give them an enthusiastic Two Thumbs Up!
But back to parenting. Just how does one earn this prestigious Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down rating? I’m glad you asked!
Here are just a few ways you can earn a Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down rating in our house:
Ask Little Mister to wash his hands before dinner. Rating: Thumbs down.
Shut off the TV when it’s time to go to bed. Rating: Two thumbs down.
Say yes to dessert. Rating: Two thumbs up.
Announce that it’s bath night. Rating: Thumbs down.
Ask Little Mister to brush his teeth. Rating: Thumbs down.
Remind Little Mister that he needs to put shoes on to go to school. Rating: Thumbs down.
Read two books before bed. Rating: Two thumbs up.
Mr. KK and I try to have an adult conversation. Rating: Two thumbs down.
Limit TV intake to a normal amount. Rating: Two thumbs down.
Try and hold hands in a busy parking lot. Rating: Thumbs down.
Give Little Mister the ‘Thumbs Down’. Rating: Two thumbs down.
Not everyone can have this educational rating system in their house. In order to do so, you must have a very opinionated preschooler with a strong will and award-winning frown face.
He enjoys twirling his ‘noodles’ like a true Italian.
Tonight, right before I put our dinner on the table, my Little Mister said to me, “Mommy, you make the BEST dinners!”
This warmed my heart, and I happily accepted this compliment, even though I had just plated the most typical four-year-old’s meal: chicken nuggets and steamed carrots (not really a dinner I was going to win any awards for).
I love food. I love cooking and I love eating out. I love trying new recipes at home, and tasting restaurant’s signature dishes. I’m a self-proclaimed (non snobby) foodie. I just enjoy good food.
So when the Little Mister came along, I couldn’t wait to bestow my knowledge and love of good food on my impressionable son.
One of my favorite parts of babyhood was when it was time for Little Mister to start trying solid foods. Each weekend I would steam and purée new foods, package and freeze them in single servings. Apples! Carrots! Sweet potatoes!
And the Little Mister loved every bite. In fact, the only food I couldn’t get him to like – despite weeks of trying – was avocado (how is that possible??)
Then we moved onto combination foods: puréed chicken soup, beef stew and veggies and chick peas.
As someone who loves food, and loves cooking, Little Mister’s love of food made me want to cry tears of joy. We were doing something right! Our child liked to eat different foods!
We progressed from there. Shrimp. Zucchini. Meatloaf. There was nothing he wouldn’t eat (except avocado, still).
But as time went on, and we entered ‘toddlerhood’ (cue maniacal laugh), my good little eater was nowhere to be found.
Suddenly, foods that he used to love, were met with a loud, “Blecch!” (even before a morsel was tasted).
Right before my very eyes, my wide-eyed little foodie lost his sophisticated palette, and almost over night we entered the dreaded chicken nugget phase.
There are about a dozen meals we can rotate for dinners, including:
Chicken soup (if it’s homemade only, and doesn’t have any “green things” in it)
Chicken nuggets (we prefer dino nuggets, and don’t even think about trying to pass off a genuine chicken cutlet in small shapes off to him, it will be met with, “Mom, what IS this?”
Hot dogs
Meatloaf (most of the time, as long as there’s lots of ketchup)
Scrabled eggs
Pancakes
Grilled cheese (it’s hit or miss with the grilled cheese, which we are sometimes told is “only a lunch food”)
Spaghetti with butter and cheese
Pasta with sauce (depends on the shape of the pasta, how soft the pasta is (he prefers al dente) and whether or not there is visible basil or oregano “green stuff” in the sauce
Meatballs
Mac and cheese (He prefers blue box, I prefer Annie’s)
Salmon (every third time I make it, as long as it’s drowning in lemon and there’s a promise of dessert if he finished)
We are lucky in that he does eat some vegetables: carrots, broccoli, string beans (sometimes) and peas.
When I think back to my childhood, I distinctly remember eating a cheese and mustard sandwich every day for lunch for 3 years straight in junior high. I’m pretty sure we had the same dinners each week on rotation. And I’m the first person who wants to order octopus at a restauarnt, or enjoy a big bowl of midnight pasta (made with anchovies).
So, there is hope for my Little Mister after all. And for me to keep my ‘best dinner-maker’ award.
Every time we would see the words “Good Times” anywhere, we’d laugh and take a pic and text it to each other.
A few weeks ago, Mr. KK came in with the mail, and my college alumni magazine was on top. I flipped through mindlessly, looking at pictures of a campus I no longer recognized, ambitious students participating in activities that never used to exist, and wedding and baby photos of young, fresh-faced alums who didn’t seem like they could be more than 20 years old.
At the end of the magazine is always a section on “class news”, and each graduating year is broken out with little snippets that people share; new jobs, career and family milestones and, sadly, deaths.
When it comes to my college years, my memory is pretty lacking. I don’t mean that in a “Wow, I partied those four years away and it’s all a such a big blur!” way. Instead, it’s like I just didn’t commit names, faces and events to my memory. Or if I did, they are no longer there. And, of course, it causes my college roommates to make fun of me, question whether or not I even attended the same school as they did. (NOTE: I did.)
So when I scanned the class news section for our graduating year, and the graduation years above and below us (since we DID spend lots of time with those folks, even though I can never remember their names) and saw the obituary for a guy we knew quite well, I had to do a double take.
We lived next to the football team our junior and senior years, and if anyone had ridiculous nicknames for each other, it was these guys. So it took me a minute for this guy’s name – his real name – to register. And even then, I doubted my memory, which didn’t have the best track record. I texted a pic of the obit to my friends just to double check I wasn’t crazy, and sure enough, our friend “Good Times” had passed away.
When did we get so…old?
I was never particularly close with Good Times, however one of my roommates spent quite a bit of time with him during – and after – college. But no matter how well I knew him, or how much we hung out, the three of us were stunned to see his name in print. Someone we were friends with in college died.
The realization was a little scary: my friends and I were at the age, when classmates could just start dying. Sure, we’d lost a few others over the years to tragic accidents. But to think that people our age may start passing away due to illness or medical conditions, was pretty scary.
That night, one of my roommates scoured the internet looking for answers. She stumbled across Good Times’ Facebook page, which had been turned into a memorial. “I don’t want you to do that to my page,” she told us, referring to the memorial page. One of her biggest worries is what is going to happen to her social media if something should ever happen to her. We reassure her that we will be very kind, and continually tag her in embarrassing photos in the afterlife. (kidding!)
Life is short, be sure to spend it doing things you like.
Social media aside, seeing that someone who had been so full of life (and was always up for a Good Time, hence his nickname) had passed away was pretty sobering. One minute you’re here, and the next you’re…not.
I wouldn’t say that this occurrence renewed my lease on life or anything big and spiritual like that, but it did remind me that life truly IS short. So you should make the best of it while you can. Make time for the things you like to do, say no to stuff that doesn’t interest you and takes up your time. Pick a few items off your ‘to do’ list and make them a priority. Stop and remember the little moments; for me: don’t rush the Little Mister brushing his teeth every morning because we’re running late again; if he wants to get in the car seat by himself as a feat of independence, just let him do it, even though it takes forever; and be the green dinosaur who needs to rescue the lion who fell in the ocean, even though I should be making dinner.
And make sure to have a Good Time, no matter what you’re doing.
