As a kid I loved jello…honestly, I still do!
I remember being fascinated by the strange brightly colored substance as a child – and celebrating various events like the Super-bowl or Easter with my favorite, jello-jigglers.
One afternoon I was preparing snack for our big Starfish while they finished out naptime.
Discovering a couple boxes of jello in the cupboard, I quickly decided this would be an amazing snack. Little did I know what was in store for GRANNY, the PRINCESS, DRAMA KING, and SNOT ROCKET as they explored the wonderful world of jello.
Setting them in their high chairs, I placed the strawberry substance before them and watched with curiosity. SNOT ROCKET, an advocate of playing with food began to explore his first. The PRINCESS was next as her sweet tooth got the best of her, and handful by handful she began shoveling it into her mouth. DRAMA KING needed a little assistance in taste-testing, but after swallowing his first bite, was hooked.
GRANNY on the other hand, was a little skeptical. She starred at her bowl with a disappointed, mildly disturbed look. “What on earth do you think you’re trying to feed me here Auntie Christy?” I imagined her wondering. I decided that her skepticism needed to be altered by discovering the sheer joy playing with jello can bring. I plopped a spoonful from her bowl onto the high chair and watched it bounce a little. She noticed this strange movement too, and it was just enough to get the wheels turning in her curious mind. She placed her hand on the clump of jello and pulled back quickly feeling the wetness and chill. Looking at her hand, her mouth dropped open in wonder “why is nothing stuck to me!?” she seemed to think.
Eyes wide and rather wondrous, she looked at me. Just for fun, I poked at the clump again and it began jiggling. Naturally this called for some strategic sound effects – which led to GRANNY’s contagious laughter. She managed to eat a few spoonfuls…and called this experimentation to a close. Two days later, I decided we would have “jello-exploration” round two. This time we decided to picnic outside. Let’s just say that grass, jello, and the general idea of being outside with babies leads to a fun-filled mess.
The PRINCESS gobbled the contents of her bowl down instantly – and began searching for remnants of others in the grass. SNOT ROCKET thought it would be extraordinarily fun to decorate his fellow Starfish in jello….and thus began the jello wars! One jello-soaked lawn and four outfits later…we’d had the snack-time like no other.
