The Evolution of Halloween

Last week marked the fourth Halloween that Mrs. Dude and I spent with our Little Dude, even though he’s only 2 years old.  And each October 31^st has been a tremendous marker of change for our little family.

On our first Halloween together after we’d started dating,in 2003, Mrs. Dude and I went to a big party at a well known L.A. location. (No, it wasn’t the Playboy Mansion. Unfortunately.) Our relationship was still new and we had a lot to figure out, which we did over the next few years. Fast forward six years to 2009 when we found ourselves back at that same exact location on October 31st for a very different type of event and in a very different situation.

The Little Dude’sFirst Halloween (2009):  

Costume: Uterus

Halloween is often filled with scary moments and unexpected twists and turns. We were hoping for the opposite in 2009. Mrs. Dude was 38 weeks pregnant on Halloween when friends of ours were getting married. Thanks to a presumed-very-large breech baby we had a C-Section scheduled for one week later, but sometimes babies make different plans. I was somewhat nervous as we drove to the wedding and hoped that we would have more treats than tricks that night.

Though there were definitely some spooky elements, we made it through the night unscathed and exactly one week after Halloween, the Little Dude arrived.

Second Halloween (2010):

Costume: Giraffe

We had just moved a few days before and couldn’t find the Little Dude’s costume, but through a mysterious source everything inexplicably turned up right when we needed it.  We carb-loaded beforehand with my family’s traditional Halloween dinner of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, which was the Little Dude’s first time eating that delectable treat. That’s noteworthy for starting a streak of eating it every night for over a year.  Yes, he’s definitely my kid.  

Just a week shy of his first birthday the Little Dude hadn’t started walking yet, and wouldn’t for another 5 months,  so I was tasked with schlepping him from house to house.  It was worth it, as he was mesmerized by the lights and decorations we encountered going house to house.And because he earned several full-size Snickers bars along the way.  Fortunately for me his vocabulary wasn’t very developed at that time, so I assume he wanted me to enjoy them all on his behalf.

Third Halloween (2011):

Costume: Blue Monster

Two days before Halloween, the Little Dude caught the first fever he’d ever had. I was nervous that he wouldn’t be able to go out begging that night. And since he’d been walking for 6 months, I was looking forward to not carrying  him around our hilly neighborhood.  The day of truth was upon us and his fever had subsided. Even though he probably wasn’t 100% it was all systems go.  Obviously Mac & Cheese was a prerequisite for good energy and we brought the stroller with us just to be safe.  

It was a hot humid night and after about 10 minutes, the Little Dude ran out of steam. I figured we’d head home, but he wanted to keep going. Just not to keep walking. Somehow, just like the year before, I ended up carrying him door to door for most of the night. He got spooked at one house where the monsters (aka dumb teenage kids) jumped out of the dark to scare us,but beyond that had fun. And I got a full-size Twix for my efforts.

Fourth Halloween (2012):

Costume: Dragon

This was going to be my year. No more carrying the Little Dude!  He’s amazing, but also 40 pounds. Time to let his legs earn their keep. He had a friend come over who had never been Trick or Treating before. They ran house to house and the boy’s father and I tried to keep up. After a bit, they both ran out of gas and, not surprisingly, wanted to be carried. But the excitement and pure joy in their faces made it all worthwhile.  And this year the 5 ½ week old Littler Dude experienced his first Halloween, though he likely won’t remember it since he was passed out in the stroller all night.

So that’s how my 2 year old experienced 4 Halloweens in 3 years. He loved the experience and after double-fisting Tootsie Pops that night when we got home, he forgot about the bag he’d collected and moved on with his life. As for me, I can hardly wait until next year, though I’m not sure how we’ll juggle two boys that night. I guess I’ll need to have an extra scoop of Mac& Cheese to prepare.

How was your Halloween? What was the best costume you saw?

The Battle of Turkey Pasta

He’d eaten it a million times.  Well, that’s exaggerating. He’s eaten Kraft Mac & Cheese and/or turkey dogs a million times. He’d eaten this many times and always liked it. What’s not to like about pasta with marinara sauce and ground turkey? Though it had been a while since he’d had it, that shouldn’t have mattered.  

My Little Dude is a picky eater, that's no secret. He always has been. Even with the baby food in jars he was given at six months old, he rejected most of them.  Usually all over me and my clothes.

But one exception to the rule has been Mrs. Dude’s famous “Turkey Pasta”.  She’s made it for years and he’s always been a big fan, just as I am. And in some weird coincidence, he usually wears a white or light-colored shirt on the days that he eats it.  That’s partly why we buy kegs of stain remover at Costco.   

"Big Tubes" & "Worms" pictured.

But a few months ago, my sister came to visit and introduced the Little Dude to a new culinary treat: “Butter Pasta”.   I can’t really argue that in most circumstances items topped with butter usually taste better than items mixed with turkey, but this dish may be an exception to that rule.  My sister made butter pasta for my nieces and the Little Dude immediately took to it. So much so that he started requesting it multiple times a week.  If he gets excited to eat something we get excited, though in this case I wish it had a little more protein in it.

Given his affection for his new favorite dish, and the ease of preparation, he started eating it a lot. Also since it was over 100 degrees for most of the summer and Turkey Pasta can be a heavy meal, we didn’t make it much over the last couple months.  But I figured it was time to bring it back. Just as people clamor for the McRib every time McDonald’s puts it back on the menu, so should the Little Dude enjoy his beloved Turkey Pasta once again.

Mrs. Dude took him to the grocery store to pick out pasta, as he is very intrigued by the various shapes. He picked out butterflies (farfalle), corkscrews (fusilli), tubes (penne) and more. Then he helped pour them into the boiling water, watching excitedly as they danced around the bubbles.  He waited as the shapes were mixed with sauce and put in his favorite bowl on the table for him.  

And then he refused to eat it.

He wanted something else to eat.  Butter Pasta. Which is OK sometimes, but that’s not what we’d prepared and it’s time for him to get on the same page as us. Making two separate meals is annoying. 

The next hour was not a fun course of events, with many tears shed and a failed bribery attempt, but in the end he opted to go to bed hungry and mad.  Which is a truly heartbreaking thing for a parent to watch but was entirely his choice.

Punishment came when he bounded into our room this morning at 5:30am, cheerful and happy. Acting as though nothing had occurred ten hours earlier.  “I’m hungry!” he giggled.

Perfect! We are having Turkey Pasta for breakfast...

How have you or would you deal with a situation like this?

Who Picked This Pickiness?

One of my first posts when I started this blog a year ago was about my frustration at having the pickiest eating toddler in the history of civilization.  Just like they do on TV about old shows no one has thought about in decades, I thought I’d do a “Where Are They Now?” look at, well, where we are now in regard to the diversity of the Little Dude’s palate.

Spoiler Alert: It still sucks.

I expected his picky eating to be a phase that he’d grow out of, as countless people assured me it would. I suppose there is still time for that to occur, since he’s only 2 ½ years old, but it seems like it never will. Especially when we are at kids’ birthday parties and the inevitable cheese pizza is served. Mine is the only kid who would rather eat a bag of Baked Snap Pea Crisps than that mozzarella-covered cardboard they often try to pass off as pizza.

Mandatory Kids' Birthday Party Meal

You might be thinking that it’s much better for him to eat baked vegetable snacks than greasy pizza, which is probably true health-wise. I often wonder about the social component of his pickiness. People have suggested that he’ll evolve when he is around other kids. Um, he’s sitting next to 20 other kids who are all eating pizza and he’s not. Must he go to Burning Man for a bigger crowd?

We are very lucky to have a happy, healthy boy who is consistently near the top of the growth chart, so I shouldn’t be complaining. But the frustration caused by his unwillingness to even taste certain foods is compounded by the fact that he frequently talks about them. Yes, my son is an E.T., an Eating Tease.  

Sometimes Mrs. Dude or I will ask what he wants to eat, though we know it’s really a rhetorical question since he eats the same 5 things every day. Occasionally he’ll surprise us and say he wants pizza, for example, and immediately qualifies his request with “for real!” to add validity.  So we make the pizza, put it in on his plate, and watch as once again he’d rather skip dinner than suffer through the horror of cheese baked on top of tomato sauce and dough.  And every time this happens I feel like Charlie Brown when Lucy pulls the football. Good grief. 

The Little Dude’s eating repertoire has been virtually the same for the last year and a half. He does have an affinity for breakfast food, but beyond that I’m running out of ideas.  This is the same kid who ate Kraft Macaroni & Cheese for dinner EVERY NIGHT for more than a year, and that only ended because we stopped giving it to him every night. Now the great majority of his evening meals are anchored by (Nitrate-Free) Turkey Dogs, aka the only type of “meat” that he’ll consider eating.

There is one exception to his edict of not trying new foods, and that is if he determines that an item is a cookie, cake, candy or other type of sweet. He can hone in on a dry-looking Do-Si-Do from 20 yards away even though he’s never seen one before but the thought of a dinosaur-shaped chicken nugget is torturous. How he developed that sixth sense, I’ll never understand.  

Double-fisting vanilla cones

People who know me well have suggested that this is my payback for behavior from 25-30 years ago. You see, I was a picky eater once, too. In fact, I ate the same lunch virtually every day from kindergarten through 6^th grade: peanut butter & jelly. I’ve broadened my horizon since then, but even at my pickiest stage I ate at least a few other items. I think I can count every item the Little Dude eats on my fingers and toes. And that’s including both Original and Honey Nut Cheerios.

So what should we do? As a parent, this is incredibly frustrating on so many levels.  We can’t go to a restaurant without packing a full meal, because the likelihood of him eating something from the menu is almost nil. Unless they serve hotdogs.  And even then, he won’t eat the French fries or carrots served with it.  He’d much rather eat a half-dozen Trader Joes rice cakes.  Maybe he has the right idea after all.

 How have you dealt with a picky eater?

The Dude Flies Solo

It began with a kiss as she walked out the door. That wonderful moment was just the beginning of my great unknown.  As Mrs. Dude departed on Friday afternoon for a friend’s overnight bachelorette party in wine country, I was hoping that I was not headed for 24 hours in whine country. 

Even though the Little Dude is 2+ years old and I have spent a considerable amount of time with him by myself, this was something new.  I had never had him for 24 hours solo before. And likewise, he had never had 24 hours with just me. Or as he would likely view it, without his mother. 

Though certainly not frequently, I have spent an occasional few days away from home over the last 2+ years.  My wife is a pro and can handle the Little Dude in any situation.  She’s flown cross-country with him. She’s driven him up and down the state of California. She’s even waited in line at the DMV with him, and that’s not easy. 

She put him down for his nap that day, as she usually does.  When he woke up she wasn’t there, but that’s not unusual since I usually have him post-nap through bedtime most nights during the week while Mrs. Dude is working.

At first I wanted to come up with a plan. Then I realized that planning for toddlers rarely works.  So I came up with a few ideas and knew I’d have to be flexible. I’ve learned from watching my wife operate so smoothly on the fly that flexibility is the key. She easily handles unexpected detours, no matter the situation.  One thing I wanted to avoid was discussing “Mama” with him. Her absence was not a secret, as she’d told him that she was going away, but didn’t need to be emphasized either.

That night, I figured I’d butter him up to get on his good side. Literally. I made his favorite dinner of Kraft Mac and Cheese.  When it’s fresh, he can eat enough to make Kobayashi look like a Weight Watcher.  His eyes smiled eagerly as I brought out the giant bowl of “Freshie Roni”.  We ate it side-by-side and even though he rejected the broccoli I served, he managed to find room for the cookies I gave him for dessert.   

We got through the rest of the usual evening routine with no problem. Of course it was really the next day I was worried about, when he woke up and Mama wasn’t there for the first time.  Was it too late to hire an understudy?

He woke up at 7:00am on Saturday and I went to grab him from his crib. T-minus 12 hours or so until the most anticipated return since the Jedi. We played in his room for a few minutes and when I went to change his diaper, he said “See Mama Again!” Sigh.  My luck ended faster than that ironically-named TV show Luck that was just canceled after the horses kept dying.  I reminded him that Mama was out with her friends and would be back soon. Soon being a relative term.  

Suddenly, a great idea hit me like a stomachache after eating at McDonalds.  Like much in life, whether the product is good or not, it’s the branding and marketing that make things successful. I told him that that day was just going to be me and him hanging out and dubbed it “Dudes’ Day”. The initial response was very positive, since he repeated “Dudes’ Day” 50 times after that.  Word of mouth was developing…but would it sustain?

We took the dog for a walk, made breakfast and then the pressure to come up with a new plan was on. It was pouring outside. The kind of rain that Seattleites laugh at, but Angelenos balk at. Since I’m originally from Ohio, I knew we had to press on.

We bundled up and headed to our weekly local Farmers’ Market.  I knew he would enjoy the bright colors and people-watching, or at least all the free fruit samples.  After making a loop, and the piecemeal equivalent of a giant fruit salad, we headed down the street to a local “Spring Festival”, aka Easter Bunny fest. We don’t celebrate Easter, but we had a brief brush with fame after meeting the infamous Bunny:

Yes, that is really us pictured in our local newspaper with the aforementioned Bunny 

We grabbed lunch at a nearby cafe, and destroyed our table like the rockstars we are.  We went home and he crashed after a long morning of cruising the streets of our fair city. I expected the Mrs. to be home when he woke up, so I figured I’d made it through!  Until she told me she was going to stay with her friends for dinner.  Now what?

I figured our Dudes’ Day finale should be what every good-time person does on a Saturday night, so we went to IHOP.  Since I’d recently discovered his fondness for their pancakes, I knew it would be a hit. And as we finished our dinner, we received a surprise at the restaurant. Mrs. Dude got dropped off at IHOP by her friend on their way back into town and we all rode home together. A successful solo mission / Inaugural Dudes’ Day was now history. 

I'm once again linking up with the great Yeah Write community.
Come check out some great writers and vote for your favorites on Thursday. 

Rockin’ Friday: If I had $1000000

This week’s Rockin’ Friday tune is “If I had $1000000” by Barenaked Ladies.  Those six zeroes indicate a million dollars and are how the band curiously chose to spell the title. That would have been my 3^rd choice, but what do I know? 

It’s a great song featuring a kid friendly “call-and-repeat” which little ones can easily participate in singing.  The song is about what a Dude would do for his beloved if he possessed that much cash. The singer is obviously a kind soul, as he’d not only buy her a house but also furniture for her house so she wouldn’t have to sit on the floor.  His generosity is not surprising, because he’s Canadian and they are usually pretty cool.  

1,000 Benjis = $1000000

This is a great song for kids because the message contains positive messages of sharing what you are fortunate to have with others, caring for animals and cultural education. For example, the singer says that if he had a million dollars he’d “buy you some art, like a Picasso or a Garfunkel”.  Seriously, who wouldn’t want an original Garfunkel in their home? I mean beside Paul Simon, of course. 

This song has been a concert favorite for BNL for many years and there is always some good improvisation when they perform it live. A perfect example is the Macaroni Dance/Explosion that singer Stephen Page does halfway through the version in the video below.

What would YOU do if you had a million dollars?