Jun 24, 2009

Happy Meal.

Well, summer is here and that can mean only three things:

1. Momma no longer gets to post every day because these kids, they are everywhere.

2. Momma no longer gets to potty alone because these kids, they are little freaks and won't leave the room.

3. And Momma has now changed her Netflix plan from "two movies a month" to "how about you just keep 'em coming, whaddayasay?" It was the best plan, I assure you.

Our morning ritual is the same every day. We head into Cool Springs for some swim lessons, followed by a drive thru at Chik-fil-A where I order a 3 count chicken mini and we each (if I'm lucky) get one. Momma usually gets the short end of that chicken stick, let me tell ya. So I order a sweet tea so that I won't completely hate the world.

Then we go somewhere that's free (THANK YOU PUBLIC LIBRARIES!) or we head straight home. Or sometimes we do both; we go to the public library, have to leave early thanks to child rearing issues (what's the issue? I can't seem to rear my child, that's the issue) and head straight home.

And it's on the little jaunt home that we inevitably end up having the same conversation day after day after day after day. It's become quite comforting, to say the least. It goes like this:

Remi: Mama, are we going straight home?

Me: Yes, baby.

Remi: Mama, can I watch Tom and Jerry at home?

Me: Yes, baby.


Remi: And mama, I'm hungry.

Me: I know baby. What do you want to eat.

Remi: I want some jelly and some peanut butter. And I want a sandwich around it. And I want one cookie. And I want those chips. And I want some wahhhhhrrrmelon and strawberries.

I try to drive her crazy by offering up other goods: crackers? cheese? turkey sandwich? two cookies? cantaloupe instead of watermelon?

But the answer is always the same, "no. Just some jelly and some peanut butter. And I want a sandwich around it. And I want one cookie. And I want those chips. And I want some wahhhhrrrrmelon and strawberries."

I have offered McDonalds, Chik-fil-A, Subway and KFC. She'll have none of it.

She has decided what her summer lunch of choice is and she won't budge from it. Not one bit.

And I'm jealous, really. Jealous that a peanut butter and jelly doesn't really do it for me anymore. Jealous that licking the cheese from Cheese Puffs off my fingers is no longer the highlight of my day. I'm also a little frustrated at the fact that watermelon (though delicious and refreshing) is not something I would choose to indulge in every single day when I know darn well its a diuretic! What's wrong with me? And when did I become too good for Tom and Jerry?

Remi's got the right idea. Her meal cost nothing. Well, hardly anything. You buy the ingrediants and they'll last you a month at a time. Buy them at Wal-mart and they'll last you 7 or 8 months......(seriously, there is something I don't trust about their jelly.)

It's her Happy Meal.

When did we get too old to have one?

What's your Happy Meal? Nope. You can't say chips and cheese dip. You don't get to type in "Sushi and fried rice." Not this time. This time think like a child. What is the meal that makes you a little happy and a little 8, all at the same time?

Mine is peanut butter and grape jelly with Doritos. Crushed up. And eaten at the same time with my sandwich.....bite after bite after. It's a side of fresh peaches and Very Berry Fruit Punch. It's eating it off a paper plate while I lay on the couch in just a t-shirt and watch The Love Boat.

I just told you my 4th grade summer. And now, I'm smiling.

What's yours?

35 comments:

monica said...

oh, this takes me back to when i was 9 and my parents went to san fransisco for 2 weeks and left me and my brothers with my great aunt - who either hadn't heard of the food pyramid or just didn't like the bottom layers of it...
because every day for lunch she sent my brothers and me off to school with pb&m. that would be peanut butter and mustard. on white bread. yum. every morning for breakfast we had toast with butter and peanut butter and for dinner every night she went crazy and gave us a choice. kraft mac 'n' cheese with or without sliced hotdogs. for two weeks this is what we ate.

and somedays the only thing that satisfies is a good pb&m. and maybe some sardines straight from the tin (my grandaddy taught me that one!) my clan is obviously known for their refined pallets.

Anonymous said...

Mine is (dont laugh, I am from the midwest) Ground bologna and pickle sandwiches, fresh rasberries and blueberries and jays chips with a Diet Dr.Pepper.. Heaven

Candice said...

I have 2 happy food memories... #1 Blueberry pancakes that my dad and I always managed to turn blue... that's right, blue-blueberry pancakes.

#2 Picking strawberries from my great-grandma's garden and sitting at the kitchen table with a tub of whipped cream.

That's what makes me happy :)

Sarah Victoria said...

I'm a big fan of fried bologna sandwiches.. its like a theme song of my childhood! by the way I'm new to your blog and stayed up till 3 am on a night last week and read every post... creepy maybe but your and inspiration!

Deanna said...

Beanie Weenies, a bun length Oscar Meyer hot dog with ketchup on it on a warm white bread bun, on a paper plate, with a plastic spoon to eat my beanies because plastic spoons are cool, and a hawaiian punch over ice in my hyper color cup that used to change colors from neon yellow to purple whenever a cold drink was in it. Eaten on the living room floor in shorts, a t-shirtfrom some state park we visited the summer before, and bare feet, while watching old Doris Day movies...knowing that when the movie was over, I had my mom's old 45's to play with on the record player. *sigh* no stress back then.

Neeki said...

Ok, it might sound weird, but it's sooo good. My brother and I would cook noodles, didn't matter what kind, but thin spaghetti was the #1 choice. Then we'd open a can of Hunt's tomato sauce and pour over the spaghetti straight from the can. To this day, every time I see Hunt's tomato sauce, I think of that. And every once in a while, I'll sneak out the Hunt's while everybody else is eating their spaghetti with "fancy" Ragu!

Lynda said...

Grilled cheese sandwich, red Kool-Aid, Ruffles (with rrrrrrridges)and two Vienna finger cookies... and reruns of Leave It to Beaver.

Teri from Indiana said...

Cream of Chicken Soup, Peanut Butter Samdwich w/Butter ( Budding Paula Deen even back then) and milk. Seriously I ate that for YEARS.

Anonymous said...

Turkey Sandwich, Name Brand chips instead of Hy-Top (special treat!!), kool aid, and watching reruns of Happy Days and Brady Bunch. That was the best.

IRW Dana said...

The 8 year old in me still feels very good about laying in my pajamas on the couch and stealing cookies from the cookie jar for breakfast. I am fortyeeerrrrrsomething, my kids are grown adults, and every once in a while I still feel like a kid and steal a couple cookies from the cookie jar for breakfast. Especially on a very hot day outside and the central air inside is so cold you need a blanket to snuggle up with on the couch. And the big girl inside me has added a Dt. Pepsi with the cookies. Aahhhhh, those are the days.

SUSAN said...

pb&j w/ bacon on it,my brother says he created it, but if you like sweet/salty together-it's the bomb!

Paige said...

I have two favs- homemade mac & cheese and creamed tuna on toast. Still eat the mac & cheese when I am in a bad mood and don't feel like cooking. Quick, easy and TASTY. Ate creamed tuna on toast every day for lunch in kindergarten. Still one of my favs. Neither one goes well with my adult curves though...

Anonymous said...

White bread sandwich with mayonaise and sugar on it or peanut butter sandwich with dill pickles on it. Hmmm...I think I'm gonna cheat on my diet right now for a PB and P sandwich. Oh how I love comfort food....

Emily F said...

came across your blog. I tried to leave a comment the other day, but i believe the internet pooped out on me and it never went through. either way, i just would like to repeat that i enjoy your writing and plan on visiting daily. :) thanks for the summer reading.

T said...

peanut butter and banana sandwich with pretzels dipped in mustard and yes, I ate this ALL the time when I was little! Still love it to this day!

Aja Jenise said...

Mmmmm, hmmmm... lets have some PB& syrup... that was like the ol' time treat/dessert for my grandparents and great-grands made it the staple for me. They use to dip hard bread in it... now I whip it up on a sandwich, and OF COURSE you always make too much, so I have a side bowl of PB&syrup as well... will some ruffles and french onion dip, and a pickle... oh and the Diet Pepsi that I was rationed... oh it was a treat!!

Either that or cold leftover Mac&Cheese, or leftover hamburger or tuna helper... take it cold please... straight out of the fridge... with some MTV or VH1 from back in the day... when they actually played music videos....

Ahhh you just hit the spot for me Melissa!! Gotta love you!!

Anonymous said...

easy peasy! pb and banana sandwich - crusts off. and skim milk with ice. I know what I'm having for lunch today, thanks!

Sissy said...

Okay, there is another Sissy and that freaks me out. I thought maybe I'd already left a comment, but then saw it wasn't me!

Ham and cheese sandwixh, with non-ruffled potato chips slid in the middle and if you can get it, a nice squishy sub roll. Sub sandwiches were really trendy when I was in 5th grade maybe, and people would make really long ones then cut off slices for their guests. High class entertaining, I tell you. Oh, and Hi-C orange drink from McDonalds. I still love that stuff.

Anonymous said...

Peanut Butter with homemade strawberry jelly on white - then smashed flat! I don't remember there being alot of chips in the house but maybe a few pretzles and whatever fruit was available at the time. If I were lucky my aunt would make me her 7 layer salad!!

yummy...now I need to go to the store and get some ingredients.

Anna Whiston-Donaldson said...

Doritos and Coke, eaten while watching General Hospital at the Joneses house. Don't the Joneses always have all the cool stuff?

Carrie said...

Mmmm...macaroni tuna salad always reminds me of my childhood...eaten on the porch steps during a break from running through the sprinkler! :)

Givinya De Elba said...

We have these crackers (maybe you do too) called Jatz and when you put them with gherkin dip or french onion dip, it's Childhood all over again. But in polite company, it screams "cheap and nasty."

I've given up trying to "go potty" by myself. I just call out, "Okay everyone, Mummy's going to do a WEE, who's going to come and WATCH?"

The theory is, one day they will realise it's so embarrassing and graphic, and they will decline the offer. So far, it hasn't worked.

Unknown said...

My Mom used to take a couple cans of Franco American Spaghetti and throw in some cooked ground beef, then she called it dinner!! We LOVED it

MBush said...

I must preface this with the fact that some of your readers are scary when it comes to tastebuds!! I must say, I laughed at many combinations!

I must say that KRAFT Cheese and Macaroni is the all time happy meal for me. Especially when followed by Ritz crackers with peanut butter and bananas on top.
Yummo!

Theda said...

Well after a leisurely morning swim, in our plastic kiddie pool, we always had a grilled cheese and kool-aid. Simple, but such a wonderful memory.

Sarah W. said...

These comments were fun--and a little gross--to read.

My Kindergarten year looked like this:
I went to AM Kindergarten and came home to just the babysitter and myself (which was a treat because i was one of 5) around lunch time.
She always had Chef Boyardee Beef Ravioli cut in half (to cool faster) in a bowl for me.
I got to watch one game show (I was an old soul, I guess) then take a nap.

I had the same babysitter my whole life. For my wedding shower, she gave me Chef Boyardee!!!

Anonymous said...

Corn dogs with Doritos, fruit punch Kool Aid, and a snowball remind me of many summers growing up. :-)

Leighann said...

Tuna fish (which I can't stand anymore) with Doritoes crunched up INSIDE the sandwich - between the tuna and the bread. No going back and forth for me....all in the same bite please.

And the tuna must have sweet gherkins slices in it. I ate this from the time I can remember through high school. YUM!

Putting the FUN in DysFUNctional said...

First I have to tell you that I LOVE your breakfast from Chick-Fil-A and that's exactly what I get. Their Sweet Tea is the BOMB.
My Happy Meal used to be fried cheese hot dogs. Yes, you read that right. But the one that I still eat to this day is a grilled cheese sandwich- 2 slices of Kraft - with a pickle on the side. Sandwich dipped in the pickle juice on the plate. YUMMMMMMMM

Maria said...

Ok, LOVE the Chicken mini's! But my inner 8 year old loved to eat

1) PB on my pizza. Don't know why or how, but my brother got me started on that one.

2) White bread sandwich with Lay's or store-brand version between the bread, and for variety a slice of bologna too.

3) A grilled cheese sandwich was called cheese toasties at my house. I still make those with tomato soup on the side. Sometimes I will add ham or turkey, but I just like them plain. Of course now I use wheat bread, organic or Boar's Head cheese.

4) I will dip a piece of buttered toast into my hot chocolate, and it's like I am at my grandma's all over again.

Oh, and I would eat this in my "The Jets" or NKOTB t-shirt and my jamms shorts, watching Laverne & Shirley reruns and the Gidget movies.

Thanks for the trip down memory lane, now off to the store! =)

ally pye said...

Ok, apparently we don't have much in common, but you are hilarious!!! I'll keep reading even if you hate my guts for being artistic!!!

Amy said...

It must be a Filet O Fish sandwich that we have to pull forward to wait for, since young Amy didn't like any toppings on her sandwich. It's super hot when they bring it out to us, and young Amy takes the bread off and just eats the Filet. My parents were thrilled when McNuggets were invented. Am I that old that I remember McD without McNuggets??? Not getting warm fuzzies from this exercise.

Unknown said...

Kraft Mac & Cheese (none of that homemade crap) and peas... mixed together.

And

Pigs in a blanket (hot dogs and cheese wrapped up in a crescent roll)

Amen

~ Lisa @ AbidingThere~ said...

My gramma used to feed us bites of pantates an batin. Even now, 30 years later, the flavors of maple syrup and smoky bacon almost make me cry for my gramma's house. The other flavor memory I have is of Yoo-Hoo. Used to drink it in my gramma's shop when I was little and it still tastes just like her shop. :) I only buy it once every few years because I want it to always be a special treat - I don't want it to become ordinary.

MerriamW said...

I liked this post.