Okay, growing up, at times both of my parents worked outside the home to make ends meet and to give my sister and I a more priviledged childhood, with family trips to Disneyland, Hawaii, Washington DC, Calgary Canada, etc. My sister, a.k.a. Sisti-uglar, is 9 years, 5 months, and 9 days older than me. I don't let her forget it too often. She was well into school long before I ever got to go to kindergarten. On occassions when both my Mom and Dad were needed to work in the office, I would sometimes get dropped off at my grandparents home. These were my Mom's parents that we called Mom and Pops. They adored me because I was so cute and imaginative. (No conceit on my part). Pops always had a pocket full of butterscotch life savers. Pops, to say he had a sweet tooth, is a major understatement. I guess that is what made Mom and Pops such sweet people to be around and why all the grandkids wanted to be at their house. At their home I was intoduced to fresh squeezed orange juice with about 8 teaspoons full (heaping full) of sugar. It was very good and Pops made the OJ for Mom (his wife) every morning. On mornings that I would arrive, he would also make the OJ for me too. At their home I was also introduced to Coca-Cola. Still love it. And one of Pops vices, Oreo's. I don't know how many times I ate his complete stash of Oreo cookies, but I know it was a lot. My Dad also loves Oreo's and has taught my two older boys to enjoy and devour the tiny chocolate morsels of ambrosia, with a cream filling that preserves your insides so mummification is not necessary, in a flash. I, to this day still love Oreo's. I think my Mom is right when she says I was raised on Coke and Oreo's. Well, I have had to pass this tradition along to my daughter Sophia. She, at 18 months young, will take a half eaten Oreo from me and pound it down, then come back and get a whole cookie from me and snarf that one as well. When the Oreo's are all gone, she will put on her cute little pouty face for 30 to 45 minutes, until I can get her involved in something else. I try to make her eat something with nutritional value like grapes or strawberries, after the cookies are gone. Some times it works, some times we put on our shoes and head to the grocery store to get some more (for her of course). Needless to say, if we would have invested in Nabisco, as a company, more than that of a consumer, when I was young, I may not still be paying on student loans. But that was not meant to be, so I will continue to pay my student loans and eating Oreo's (much to my wife's discouragement - at 240 lbs, I am not a svelt man), and continue to allow my children to enjoy one of the few childhood memories I am able to share in a safe, or semi safe activity.
It is sad to me that many of the things I enjoyed as a child, my kids will never get to enjoy. Things like Hide n Seek, Kick the Can, Steal the Flag, and No Bears are out Tonight, all played until 10:00 or 11:00 pm. Todays scarey environment with creeps walking the streets make it so you don't trust your kids to be out of your site outdoors for more than a few minutes. In the late spring, summer, and early fall, the parents can take their lawn chairs out to the front yard and keep a better eye on them. It is also better if you are in a neighborhood that has a number of kids the same age as your kids, the old strength in numbers adage. Creeps are less likely to try something if there are a number of kids around that can identify them, get license plate numbers and the make and model of creeps in cars, etc. I don't know how this blog digressed from eating Oreo's to child safety, but let's just say it is inspired and hopefully it will be of help to someone who reads it. I know I have said, semi-jokingly, that Sophia will be allowed to date once she hits 25 years old and she will have to have her prospective suiter fill out an application, complete with references, and have it approved prior to any dating. I have begun creating the application, but it has a long way to go before she hits 25 and the form is put into use. I still have 23 1/2 years to go before it will be necessary to have it available for use.
My kids are what keep me going. I can't imagine losing one even while shopping at WalMart for 5 minutes. My head is filled with the fear of something like Adam Walsh happening and I could not bear it. The loss of a child has to be the hardest thing a parent would ever have to deal with. Sure there are times when we get on each others nerves and need a break from each other, but that happenes in separate rooms, not by them going outside.
Okay, back to the Oreo's. I think all three of my kids would be happy with a birthday present of either Oreo's or the extra creamy goodness of Double Stuff Oreo's. I have done extensive research (eating) on the benefits of eating anything chocolate, and it is nearly impossible to frown or be sad when chocolate is in your mouth. My research has extended to the observation of my kids and wife. Whenever they are upset or grumpy, I try to force feed a little chocolate and that seems to make things much better. When I was a child, and I would get an ouwey, my Mom would give me a small sandwich baggie with about an 1/8 of a cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips (she called them chocolate bumps for my bumps and bruises). They always made me feel better and I would share this recipe for healing with my friends growing up. One time a friend got into a fight with his brother at his house and after he got beat up, he came to my house for some chocolate bumps. I also recall one time I got into a fight with a friend and slugged him in the stomach and immediately I felt horrible. I ran home and got some chocolate bumps for him and took them to him to apologize. It took a few minutes, but by the end of the day we were good friends again.
So if you have a little one that is hurting from falling while learning to walk, or ride a bike, I highly recommend chocolate bumps to make it all better. Wishing you all health and happiness and a little chocolate to make it over the bumps in your life.
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