Seeing (and tasting) red
When the twins were born, in all the excitement and extreme sleep deprivation that was subjected upon us at the hospital, somewhere along the line Beautiful Wife and I must have misplaced the Owners Manual on the twins. She insists that since she was the one that was having squirming, screaming objects removed from her belly that I should have taken responsibility for securing the owners manuals in a safe place.
In my defense I was a little distracted too. I mean, have you seen the vending machines at the hospital?
Anyway, sometimes it would be nice to be able to consult this manual when things come up that defy explanation. For example, Swee’Pea and TheMonk have recently been introduced to the wonders of ketchup. (Or is it catsup? I can never remember.) It started innocently enough. I’d give them a little dab of ketchup with their fries from Chick-fil-a.
But soon, a little dab wasn’t enough.
Soon, the twins were clamoring for ketchup whenever possible. And it was no longer a condiment enjoyed with other savory treats. No, it became a main dish. TheMonk would scoop up whatever he could with his bare hands and shove it into his gaping mouth – often missing the mouth and depositing red, gooiness onto his entire face.
Last night, TheMonk took the art of ketchup eating to a whole new level. The twins were dining on fine cuisine of fish sticks and broccoli when TheMonk decided that even broccoli tasted good with ketchup. Even now, when I think of the taste of ketchup combining with the taste and texture of broccoli, the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and little shivers go down my spine.
But, I guess things could be worse. They could request chocolate syrup on everything (mental note: don’t give kids chocolate syrup any time soon) or refuse to eat their vegetables entirely.
But if they ever get to the point where they don’t want to eat their vegetables, I can take comfort knowing I can just hand them a bottle of ketchup and they can chug it down to get their vitamins from all that tomatoey goodness. In fact, if the government had classified ketchup as a vegetable back in the early 1980′s like they had proposed, I could forget the vegetables entirely.
Ketchup, anyone?
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LOL, my kids are the same way….i swear my one twin eats her weight in ketchup when eating fries. We go thru 2 of those big bottles of ketchup from Costco super fast….seriously i should buy stock or something
Comment by Geena — April 6, 2008 @ 11:53 am
Oh yeah…condiments as the main course? Yup! My son loves mayonnaise, ranch dressing and ketchup. Cream cheese and sour cream are also MAJOR loves.
Comment by grace — April 6, 2008 @ 1:15 pm
My girls are complete opposites on this sublect. I have one that discovered “dippin’ sauce” when she was about 3 and too this day, 7 years later, she still can not eat anything without something to dip it in. Doesn’t matter what the “dippin’ sauce” is – just as long as she has some.
My other one can’t stand it. She takes her food “au naturale”. Of course, she is the one who would take a head of broccoli over a Hershey bar.
Oh the joys of our lives…
Comment by CHadwick — April 6, 2008 @ 2:17 pm
Hmm. If it will get them to eat broccoli, it’s worth a shot …
Comment by Becky — April 6, 2008 @ 2:30 pm
Don’t worry, they’ll find lots of strange food combos.
Yesterday, my strange son wanted peas in his pancakes like most people want blueberries!!! *gag*
Comment by Laurie — April 6, 2008 @ 4:38 pm
Peanut & The Champ treat ketchup like salt also. Its wierd, they wont touch BBQ sauce and just started having mustard on their hot dogs recently.
Comment by above average joe — April 6, 2008 @ 4:48 pm
I try to keep one step ahead of the boy. I give him tomato paste, and call it ketchup. Works pretty well, and provides marginally less guilt.
It’s all about the margins.
Comment by Rattling the Kettle — April 6, 2008 @ 5:06 pm
Baylee is the exact same way. NOTHING is off-limits as a ketchup-dipping object. She dips her rolls, for God’s sake.
Brayden? Doesn’t touch the stuff.
Comment by Amy — April 6, 2008 @ 6:26 pm
um, i still eat ketchup (catsup?, mr burns style) with my broccoli. i know, gross. and i swear i just introduced it to the twins with their broccoli tonight. maybe a little early but i figure i should get them on that train, you know?
Comment by mamie — April 6, 2008 @ 7:53 pm
I have caught Ane literally drinking ketchup from those little paper cups from fast food places. Ewww. Both she and Tad love the condiment to distraction.
Comment by Deanna — April 6, 2008 @ 10:25 pm
My youngest sister puts ketchup on sandwiches and in eggs. Blech.
Comment by Memphislis — April 7, 2008 @ 6:12 am
Ketchup becomes a mean addiction, you better watch out! One day they’ll be grown and their spouses will have to buy them t-shirts and bumper stickers, and books on the history of ketchup (this exists, I swear) and must perpetually have at least two super sized bottles on hand at all times, and whatever you do, don’t EVER buy the WRONG brand!! LOL
Comment by Heather — April 7, 2008 @ 12:34 pm
We’ve gone through that stage as well. It was fairly short and now the kids use ketchup kind of in a normal way. You think ketchup is bad? Just wait until they discover the delicious BBQ sauce from Jack Daniels. It’s like crack. My son likes it to everything. Fish, meat, potatoes, “Daddy, more sauce please!”
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AD
Comment by AdventureDad — April 7, 2008 @ 11:06 pm