SpaghettiOs are Good, no?

When you have kids, you often end up eating what they eat. Case in point, last week Miss O and her lil bro A wanted SpaghettiOs for lunch. I heated up two cans just to be sure I had enough to fill each Thermos but as luck would have it, there were some SpaghettiOs left for me to eat with bread and butter later that day. Yum-O - one of my childhood favorites! When I was a kid, I would pile the Os and the sloppy tomato sauce on top of the bread then fold it over to make a messy sandwich of sorts. (Yep, I still do this as an adult) It's funny how a simple lunch can stir up happy memories from back in the day. After gobbling up my SpaghettiOs, I wanted all the world to know about it so I posted this on my Facebook status:

I ate one of my favorite childhood lunches today - spaghettios with bread and butter! I know, weird . . . what's one of your favorite lunches from your childhood?

Lo and behold, several FB friends contributed some fun responses to my question, which is a good thing because I'm pretty sure most people don't give a hoot about what I'm eating for lunch day to day. Then, my friend Rick suggested I write about this very topic for my blog, so here goes nothing!

Interestingly enough, I discovered that as kids, and most likely as adults too, my friends and I enjoy eating food from these three groups:

2. Dairy . . . Cheese, butter, milk
3. Grains . . . Bread, pasta, macaroni
1. Processed protein . . . Hot dogs, bologna (and yes, I sing the Oscar Mayer jingle in my head to spell bologna, don't you?), ham, and other deli meats

OK, I know what you're thinking. Hmmm . . . many of those foods are not so good for you. I agree, but they're tasty and nostalgic. Take this comment from a guy named Brian A., perhaps you know him?

Peanut butter and pickle (dill slices), a banana, and chocolate milk

Now I'm not sure if he meant a peanut butter and pickle sandwich, but I do agree that chocolate milk and pickles make a surprisingly delicious combo. Especially if you made the chocolate milk with PDQ like we did as kids.

What did everyone else have to say? I will tell you right now. Yes, way!

• Ham and butter sandwich - Carrie D.
• Macaroni and cheese with sliced hot dogs or tomato soup with chunks of cheese and grilled cheese sandwiches - Sarah H.
• SpaghettiOs and cut up hot dogs, tomato soup and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich - Rick M.
• Minced ham on fresh white bread with American cheese - Juli T.
• Tomato soup with popped popcorn in it! And toasted cheese... open face cheese on bread in oven - Ronda M.
  
• Hot dogs and beans....and a chicken noodle concoction you could get in a glass jar....it was yummy - Leanne S.
• Hamburger helper cheeseburger macaroni with lettuce, raw onions and tomatoes diced up on top! - Maria G.
• Bologna and cheese sandwich, Guys plain chips, and a grape soda packed in my Snoopy lunch box and eaten outside on a blanket - Connie M.
  
  Pam B. shared her thoughts about SpaghettiOs with bread and butter:

  My mom used to make me that for lunch all the time!

  Well, of course she did!
  
  Thanks to all my friends who unknowingly contributed to this post. Let's do lunch soon, darlings!
  

Good Ol' Childhood Games

"With a dirty, dirty dish rag on your toe . . ." Sometimes random thoughts pop into my head. This ending to the IT-identifying chant came to me as I washed the dinner dishes a few weeks back. It's one of those childhood sayings that sticks with you for a gazillion years just like, "I'm rubber and you're glue, whatever you say bounces off me, and sticks to you" or "Not IT!" Of course in my mind, one random thought leads to another, and before ya know it, a Good Things post is born.

Well, it sort of works that way. In this case, I needed a little help from my friends, and Brian's friends too. With the magic of social networking, I recruited contributors to tell me one good outdoor game from their childhood. The graphic above is the product of their responses. Some games are familiar like Dodgeball or Hopscotch, others are not so well known like Dr. Tangle or Hunt for the Ol' Gray Woolie?!?

In this tech age, kids are most likely to be attached to something digital or electronic, rather than gathering up the neighborhood gang for a friendly game of Kick the Can, which by the way was the game mentioned more than any other in my unscientific poll. Wacky!

What was so good about these outdoor games from our childhoods? I'll tell right now:

3. Little or no special (expensive) equipment needed: A ball, a can, a flashlight, a stone and some chalk, a doorbell . . .

2. Mom or dad did not have to drive any kids here or there to take part: Go outside. Find some friends in your neighborhood on foot or by bike. Round them up in a backyard, an empty lot or field, or in the alley if you had one. Play a game or two, or more. There ya have it - no seatbelt required.

1. These games were actually fun despite the potential risk for injury. (I'm not a big fan of Dodgeball for that very reason) Good times were had by all, OK, maybe not by the kid who always was IT, but heck yeah, simple summertime fun!

Unplugged.

Kudos to the following folks who shared their favorite childhood games with me, not in any particular order: Kevin, Deneen, Kristen, Jeff, Kelly, Joe, Beth, Donna, Joan, Narda, Marianne, Donna, Kim, Daphne, Greg, Ruth, Connie, and Dana. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Now get out there, grab some friends, and go play!