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Thursday, February 16, 2012

Sibling Relationship Building

Bubs 1 and 2 continue to get acquainted with each other. The other day, Bubs 1 sat down next to his younger brother and initiated conversation. Bubs 2 actually participated with a few coos. The topic of conversation didn't get too deep. They weren't discussing the candidates for the GOP in this general election year. Instead, Bubs 1 showed Bubs 2 his tongue and encouraged Bubs 2 to show his.

These guys are three years apart. The difference in years between my brother and me is 7 years - almost 1/3 of a generational gap. I remember some activities like throwing the Nerf football in the front yard. But the most eventful were the boxing matches (with snow mittens as gloves) in the living room. In hindsight, I wonder if my brother suggested this activity because his suggestion always came after he was directed (by our parents) to babysit me. These boxing matches happened a few times when our parents left for the evening. My memory is patchy, but I have fond memories of pulling the winter gloves from the bedroom closet and sliding the coffee table to the side of the room to form the "ring." I also have a memory of jumping around, with those damn footed pajamas, as I tried to stick-n-move while my brother deflected every punch I threw - even my haymaker. I'm sure I telegraphed it since I was like 4 or 5 years old. I also remember laying on the living room floor crying while my brother attempted to bribe me, "What do you want? I'll make you chocolate pudding just stop crying before mom and dad get home." That gold, matted rug was always full of lint and hair. However, I have no memory of eating any chocolate pudding after these boxing matches. Perhaps the pudding was never prepared? I'll never know. Good times.

If my brother and I were closer in age, then we may have ended up throwing beer parties when our parents left for the evening, instead of boxing. I hope that doesn't happen with Bubs 1 and 2, because underage beer parties aren't treated the way they used to be. Parents are thrown in jail these days.

Maybe their mom and I will buy them some boxing gloves and head gear (and mouthpieces)?

Saturday, February 11, 2012

The Egg's Yolk

Bubs1 chowing down his egg
During breakfast yesterday morning, the Bubs asked me for an egg. He loves hard boiled eggs, but just not the yolk. Although the yolk holds many vitamins, it also contains all the egg's fat and cholesterol. Bubs 1 probably doesn't have to worry about his cholesterol levels just yet, but we don't want to turn into a solid when he reaches his 30's.

Bubs1 with a mouthful of egg
without yolk (right hand)
The only problem is that he likes to hide his uneaten yolks. Recently, his mom and I found his yolks on the floor, under the table. Yesterday, he tried to hide his yolk under his napkin. I'm not sure why he feels compelled to hide the yolk. We've never forced him to eat any food. Perhaps he feels guilty?

I remember a night when I was forced to sit at the table and eat my lima beans when I was young. I can't remember if I fed the lima beans to our family dog (under the table). Our dog, Pierre, was always ready and more than willing to accept my hand-me-downs. I memory is not too tarnished, I think that Pierre would have also passed on the lima beans. He had his food challenges too. I just could not deal with the lima bean texture. A lima bean is rough on the outside with a dry-pasty inside (I can feel the hair on my neck raise). I remember dry-heaving one time after being forced to eat one. Like most kids, veggies were not that popular with me.

Bubs 1 laughing after his hidden
yolk was discovered
However, I ate all the veggies that came with Swanson "TV" dinners. Everything tasted good on those aluminum trays. Maybe it was just the sectioned areas of the tin plate that made those veggies edible to me? While in middle school, I used to heat up those frozen dinners in our oven every night after school, when my mom worked her second job at the restaurant. This was pre-microwave times. They took an hour to cook. This oven/stove was old too. If I wanted to use the broiler, then I had to light a match, get down our knees, lean down and reach under the oven and blindly wave the lit match near the open gas feed. When I used the stove top, I also had to use a match and turn the gas dial. Sometimes I'd jump back from just the loud "fwooo!" sound made when the gas caught fire. I always knew when it was going to make that sound if the match was held too long before igniting.

The Bubs won't have to worry about fire-hazard stoves and broilers like the one I had to deal with. He also doesn't have a family dog (yet) that he can feed his egg yolks too. This got me wondering if it is harmful to feed dogs egg yolks. I was sure that I was the only one to think of something so obscure. I even felt kinda dumb, but after conducting a Google search - I started feeling better. It's nice to not be the only dumb person out there: Should I feed my dog egg yolks?
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