teevee talk

Love the Sein. Still watch it several times a week, despite knowing much of the dialogue by heart. As with anything parents do, it has rubbed off on the kids. It’s not unheard of to hear things such as: “But I don’t wanna be a Pirate!” or “Hello, Newman.” But have you ever stopped to think about the food? I mean, it was a show about the nothingness of everyday life, such as eating. If I had a nickel for every scene where they were gathered around a table I wouldn’t be looking for a freelance gig. LOL!

“No soup for you!”

“You know, the big salad!”

“Lesser Babka? I think not!”

These are phrases commonly heard from the littler people in our house. There are also muffin stumps, marble rye and sometimes maybe even a plaintive “Kenny? Kenny?” It’s hilarious to hear, as is the “Why can’t we watch Seinfeld?” when their dad clicks off any of the episodes with, ahem, more mature catch phrases. But here is one of our favorites, which the kids have yet to master:

Jerry: Newman, you wouldn't eat broccoli if it was deep fried in chocolate sauce.
Newman: I love broccoli. It's good for you.
Jerry: Really? Then maybe you'd like to have a piece?
Newman: Gladly.
[Newman spits it out]
Newman: Vile weed!

Which leads us to our favorite dentist, Tim Whatley, because we use our own twists on the Anti-Dentite all the time, primarily with Capt. Kindergarten. If he were a Seinfeld character he would be the opposite of Vegetable Lasagne. He’d be the Anti Veg-ite.

So what does all of this have to do with the power of the family meal? Well tomorrow is the official kick-off to what we call “Birthday Season.” Capt. Kindergarten this month and the other two next month. Every family has birthday traditions. Among ours are Daddy’s birthday cakes … he’s created some amazing edible art … and a feast designed by the birthday kid. So making his plans Capt. Kindergarten came out of the gate quick. “Burgers and Tater Tots,” he said.

Anything else? “Yes. Yellow cake and three-striped ice cream. But you can just give me strawberry.”

OK. Anything else?

Nope. That was it for awhile, until he came to me a few hours later. “I figured out something else for my birthday dinner,” the Anti-Vegite proudly declared. “Green beans and corn. But no cans. I want the green beans from the vegetable department and the corn in the bag.”

OK. I couldn’t have been more proud. He knows a meal has four parts … meat, bread/pasta/potatoes, vegetables then dessert. And even if he doesn’t get dessert that often because he almost never eats his vegetables, he’ll eat them tomorrow because he picked them and he wants that Daddy Cake and three-striped ice cream … well, the strawberry anyway. It’s always so exciting to me when they do something to let me know that they DO hear me when I talk and that they ARE learning the things I’m trying to teach them. And this brings a certain peace to my heart. A peace I wish could be more wide spread.

I’d love to hear about your family’s birthday traditions. And as I sign off for the weekend I hope we all can “look to the cookie.” … Peace.

(BTW, the beans are GreenLine fresh trimmed, triple washed Green Beans … just poke the bag, nuke and serve. The corn is the Green Giant niblets in butter sauce. Pour in a bowl, nuke and serve. He loves me. He really loves me. Could this meal BE any easier to prepare? … Oops! I switched from Cosmo Kramer to Chandler Bing! No, I haven’t watched much TV since the 1990s. Happy Weekend!)