Do you remember when you had your first child? We only have one, so that only amplified it. We sat down and talked about all the things that those “other” parents did and that we were NEVER going to do.
Like T.V. We could live without it and she would never watch it. I could see it. She’d be in her 20’s and see one in a store and say, “Mom, what’s that big rectangular thing?”
Sugar. That was another thing we were going to minimize. I watched so many other mothers give their child too much sugar that I was somehow going to balance the equilibrium of the universe NOT giving A. any sugar.
Slowly as we had minimal sleep at night, hot and I mean really hot weather (over 110 every day for months) and the general cries of teething and other miscellaneous things you are never really warned about. We caved. There was no intention to, but no one tells you up front that it’s the accumulation of all of those things that wears you down like Chinese water torture.
But before we finally gave in to those things, we managed to make it two years with almost no sugar. For her first birthday, I bought a cake for all of the grown ups, but fed her a soft pretzel. She loved them and never craved the cake, because she had no clue what it was. We lived near an Auntie Anne’s at the time, and they made the absolute BEST soft pretzel probably in the whole world. I, of course, haven’t tried them all over, but I would be willing to take a field trip for statistical analysis.
There were some amazingly hot days, when we could only find relief by packing the stroller and heading to the closest mall with Annie in it. Her favorite back then was the Sweet Almond Pretzel. Those are all some wonderful memories. While I don’t miss pushing that stroller, I sure do miss that sweet little face.
Of course that got me thinking. How many different things CAN you do with a pretzel? Even as I say it in my mind, I can hear the old commercial… Tell me Mr. Owl, How many licks DOES it take to get to the center of a tootsie roll pop? It’s kinda the same idea, exceptI will GIVE you the first three to get started.
Pretzelmania
- Pretzel Butterflies – These look so amazing. I can’t wait to try them. These come from Cooking With Libby. Aren’t they adorable? I think we are going to use M & M’s instead of skittles.
2. Pretzel Mummies – This idea, straight from the Idea Room, is so weirdly cute.
3.Soft Pretzels – I found a super easy recipe that I can’t wait to try from creationsbykara
Other noteworthy things about today:
- Summer Solstice
- Strawberry Moon
- National Ice Cream Soda Day
- National Vanilla Milkshake Day.
Feel free to celebrate any of these as well.
A. Pumpkin Recommends… is currently busy taking a writing class, so I am filling in.
One of our most favorite full moon funtastic activities we have done is Bears by Moonlight. When she was much younger, and had a bedtime of 8 or 8:30, I would get her all dressed up for bed, read her story and put her in bed. Then wait about 10 minutes, snatch her out of bed and haul her to the car. I’d drive us to the Sonic and order a vanilla ice cream cone. I’d open the moon roof and read any of the Bear books we had. Teddy was always there. He liked the game a lot. He and A. loved the books by Frank Asch, especially Moon Game.
