Rootbeer Macaroni

Rootbeer Macaroni

the day I discovered an ink pen in the milk,

I knew I had to really be careful before pouring milk and drinking it

Rootbeer macaroni:  a most interesting blend of Kraft Macaroni & Cheese blended with melted butter and cheese, and, . . . a large swig of rootbeer!! 

Joshua was quite excited to help in the kitchen.  Most little children love macaroni and cheese, and  Joshua was no different.  His favorite items to add to the macaroni and cheese – a can of rootbeer!  I suppose he thought the macaroni and cheese was too plain, because he would then happily eat the rootbeer macaroni!  I wish I could remember in detail each and every item he has added to my cooking to help “spice” it up a little.  I could probably have created my own unique cookbook.  It most certainly would have been a comedy!  We just had to be aware of any open can, open packet  or any opened item that was around when there were large open pots, pans and bowls being prepared.  Joshua loved to help cook!

Of course, there was always the yummy Oreo cookies that tasted even better to Joshua when they were dipped in . . . ketchup!

Joshua loved to be helpful, especially in the kitchen area.  I remember realizing that the kitchen was to be affected by our little cyclone when I came in the kitchen one day and he had gotten out a box of cereal and even opened it!  Joshua had also gotten a small bowl out of the cupboard and was pouring the entire full box of cereal into this very small bowl.  Very quickly, before I had time to stop him, 95 percent of the cereal was on the counter or on the floor, but this did not stop the huge smile on Joshua’s face as he cheerfully said “I did it!”  What a lesson in accomplishment.  Joshua could only see the five percent success, instead of the ninety-five percent failure.  I still feel bad because at that time I tried to help Joshua learn to pour cereal the correct way by telling him “no” and taking the bowl and cereal box and putting them away.  I then cleaned up the cereal and made a little boy very sad.  This happened several times over the next few weeks..  To go along with this, Joshua was suddenly trying to also poor milk out of the one gallon plastic carton into a small glass, and unfortunately, milk is much more difficult to clean up than dry cereal!  It seemed that the more I tried to dissuade him from these two new accomplishments of his, the harder he tried!  A few weeks later, I was having a conference with his teachers at school.  They were particularly excited because they had been working with Joshua on his “self-help” skills and they had taught him how to pour various items from boxes and cartons!!!  I laughed to myself, thought back over the past month and told them the battle that had been going on and home, and then school.  At home I was saying “no, no, no” and at school the teachers were saying “yes, yes, yes.”  We decided to continue allowing him to learn how to pour, but because of his inability to stop pouring, the next step would be for him to learn limits and to work on understanding how to stop!  Joshua did learn how to partially “stop,” although not always in a very timely manner.  He was very pleased with himself as he would proudly call out “stop” as the cereal was rapidly pouring over the sides of the bowl!

 

Five years later, Joshua was almost self-sufficient in the task of pouring himself a bowl of cereal.  That may seem like a very long time, but when I compared it to the fact that I didn’t think he could learn how to pour his own cereal, this was really quite an accomplishment.  During those five years, Joshua had grown in height, so much that he could reach the cereal (which had been placed on the top shelf), reach the bowls in the cupboard and take the cap off the milk.  The trick was to make sure the gallon of milk was less than half full which gave a lower probability of milk being spilled everywhere.  Joshua learned to really concentrate on watching the cereal and/or milk being poured into the bowl.  The spills lessened, but they certainly never completely went away.

The problems didn’t stop at milk overflowing from a small bowl.  Other interesting things happened, however, once he learned to unscrew the milk cap off the milk!  Not only is it fun to pour milk out of the carton, but it is also very fun to put unknown items into the carton.  One day I was pouring milk, and as the milk was coming out into my glass, I noticed the milk was lumpy.  On further observance, I realized there was cold cereal all throughout this almost full gallon of milk. It didn’t strike me at first as to who might have done this (with several other small children, one really never knows).  But then another day, one of the children was pouring a different carton of milk into their cereal and macaroni and cheese was now coming right out of that gallon of milk.  We then began to watch more closely and were not surprised to find the culprit – Joshua!  He was putting any small item he could find into milk cartons!  And he was very proud of himself for this great accomplishment!  And it certainly was a great accomplishment for Joshua as his fine motor skills had been weak.  It had been very difficult for Joshua to pick up small items with his fingers.  What a great place of learning and accomplishment the kitchen had become for Joshua.

The cereal in the milk didn’t necessarily ruin the milk.  However, the day I discovered an ink pen in the milk, I knew I had to really be careful before pouring milk and drinking it.

One of my most memorable Mexican dinners was when I found salsa in the Italian dressing and enchiladas in the milk.  I should have opened my own restaurant and called it “Joshua’s Cocina.”

The pouring of milk and other items was always a reward, and a challenge.  Things were quiet in the kitchen one day as I was working on homework with my kindergarten son.  Upon entering the kitchen, however, I could see that Joshua’s hands had been busy at work.  The entire contents of the half-gallon of juice that had been in the refrigerator was now empty.  I could see the glass that Joshua had been working on, for it was completely full to the brim, and in fact had overflowed onto the counter, onto the sides of the counter which was next to the stove, thus going onto the floor and underneath the stove.  I envisioned the mess under the stove immediately as extra crumbs and toys are always pushed under the stove!  But then I noticed a long trail of juice on the other side of the counter.  At first it did not look too bad, but as I began cleaning this (because it looked like the easier of the two messes) I realized that the juice had made its way under every appliance and decoration along that wall.  The juice was under the can opener, the “juicer” (how appropriate), the scented candle (and other decoration items), the dried flower picture, the bread maker, the mini boom box radio, and even a children’s reading book was soaking in the juice!  It’s truly amazing how much juice can come out of one half-gallon carton.  After I cleaned the counter and each and every soaked item, I then tackled the other counter and moved out the stove and spent the next little while cleaning the sides of the stove and then under the stove with its juice soaked crumbs and toys.  The blessing in all of this was that I had an extremely clean kitchen.

Joshua also loved to help make sandwiches.  The problem was that sometimes the bread had to be swung like a baseball bat before use.  I can still picture my Joshua boy, holding the bread like a baseball bat, then calling out “one, two, three” and then enthusiastically swinging that baseball bat bread around.  Sometimes he would even strike out.  Needless to say, the bread didn’t look quite the same after the batter finished hitting the air.  The next step would be to add mayonnaise and cheese.  It was then also amusing to pick up the stack of sandwich cheese, and see one clean bite, all the way down the entire stack of cheese.  There was no doubt that Joshua had found that stack of cheese, and clearly thought that the best way to have a piece of cheese, was just to bite clean through every single piece.  This was a blessing that he could even find himself something to eat, all on his own.  I would love picking up a stack of sandwich cheese again, with that one clean bite all the way through.

Joshua also loved to help give me things while I was baking.  The item that made me the most nervous were eggs right out of the carton.  Although Joshua had no concept on how fragile eggs could be, I certainly did.  And I had to be extremely patient and encouraging as Joshua would take an egg out of the carton and hand it over to me.  He was very excited and enthusiastic with this new accomplishment.  And I was excited when the egg came to me whole.

While most of these things were easy to laugh at, the real danger came when Joshua became interested in the oven.  He did not turn the oven on himself (thankfully), but the minute I turned the oven to begin cooking dinner or dessert, I would have to very carefully be on guard for any items thrown in.  I learned this the hard way one day when something was cooking in the oven.  As there was still time left before it was done, I went outside and was chatting with my neighbor.  Shortly after, Joshua came running outside and seemed upset and excited.  I could tell he was trying to tell me something but I couldn’t understand what he was saying.  Thankfully I went inside the house because I quickly realized there was a kitchen towel inside the oven and it was on fire!  I was able to put out the fire, and take a very strong note of the fact that I needed to stay close by once the oven was on, as Joshua would most definitely throw things in the oven again. 

Because Joshua loved to help, and truly believed he was helping, we continued to praise him, especially when he chose the right item to pour in whatever was currently cooking, or when he stopped pouring the juice or milk before it reached the top of the glass or bowl.