Did you eat monster cereals as a kid? You know, Count Chocula and the like.
I remember them from childhood but I never had occasion to try any. My Mother wasn’t the breakfast candy type. We had giant bags of toasty-o’s, wheat puffs and the like so I never experienced Count chocula, or boo-berry or…what’s the werewolf one? They weren’t something I pined after as a kid, I guess I knew how hopeless it was and saved my energy to pine after other things.
A few years ago I noticed the monster cereals in the store around Halloween. Back in the day they were available all year round, nowadays they’re a seasonal thing. I usually buy a box of Count Chocula in October because A-yum and B-it’s less work than decking out the front yard in spider webs and ghosts but still makes my kids feel festive.
We generally skip all the other monsters because they all have the same unappealing flavor. We don’t eat it at breakfast time. I try to spring it on the kids when it’s least expected. They come home from school one day and BAM! Count Chocula for an after school snack!
This year I did buy a box of Boo-Berry. I was hosting an activity day (Twice a month all the little girls from church between the ages of 8-11 come to my house for an activity. Hence the name) and I thought Halloween cereal would be a fun treat, I personally don’t care for the berry flavored options but maybe some of the girlies might.
As our activity was winding down and it was time for refreshments I brought out the cereal. I was expecting a big reaction. Cereal and milk in the middle of the day? And festive sugar cereal even! I thought it was going to be BIG. It would have been for me. It is for my kids.
The majority of those girls thought I was flat out insane. Most of them worked through it and enjoyed the awesomeness despite my clear insanity but one girl politely declined and excused herself to jump on the trampoline instead.
It was her first week too.
Now she thinks I’m some psycho cereal pusher.
I can just imagine her telling her parents about the activity “I had fun with the girls, but that weird lady tried to feed me an unhealthy breakfast at 4:30 in the afternoon.”
Two days ago at lunch time I decided to finish off the last of the sugar bombs. I helped myself to Count Chocula and Duke requested Boo-Berry. Then, because there was only a tiny bit of Chocula left, I had seconds. Did I feel sick later on account of this sub par lunch? Yes I did but that’s beside the point. Duke (who had a healthy meal before I busted out the cereal) called me on my seconds. “Why are you having more mom?” and I answered him with complete honesty. “Because I’m the mom and I can,” Then I went about my business.
When Duke finished his Boo-Berry I was in the bathroom. He knocked on the door “Mom,” he called “I’m done and I want seconds because I’m a kid and I can.”
Well played sir.
I divided the rest of the boo berry between the other kids. Enzo, who can’t be kept from the side of his baby sister by any force of nature other than school, ate his while looming over Dovie as she jumped contently in her jumper. He dropped a piece on her tray and fast as anything she picked it up, popped it into her wet little baby mouth and ate it right up.
Now, she hadn’t shown any interest in solid food. I’d done an experiment or two like letting her gum and apple but she really wasn’t that into it and I was cool with that. She’s five months old now so I knew it was coming but I was content to keep her on a milk diet for a while yet. Staying tiny is fine by me. But now I feel like I have to make up for that artificially flavored, colored, non food entity by feeding her wholesome new things and that is why she enjoyed a few spoonfuls of mashed up avocado last evening for dinner.
I blame it all on the Boo-Berry.
Once again my mother is proven right.