Creative Process
Felicia's Notepad
Noodle Nightmare
Ants In Pants
I would take the boys out to eat at the local fast food restaurants periodically. One day, the older two boys were at school, and I took Jordan and Evan to Wendy’s for some chicken nuggets. Jordan was approximately 3-1/2 years old, and Evan was still a baby.
We ate lunch and headed back out to the car. I was strapping Evan into his car seat, and Jordan was pacing back and forth, wanting to get into the car. I said to him, “Calm down. Do you have ants in your pants?” When I turned around to grab him to lift him into the car, he had pulled his pants down and was working on his underwear. I said, “What are you doing?!” Jordan answered, “I was looking to see where the ants were.”
A volume of explanation followed as I helped him pull up his pants. I learned a valuable lesson. Children are literal beings and we are their teachers. I included the page in the Oodles of Noodles book with the ants in the boy’s pants in memory of the teachable moment for my son and me.
Raising four boys gave me lots of inspiration for the Oodles of Noodles book. From the time they were 2 years old to 10 years old, I cooked noodles. All I could think about was how I would cook noodles for dinner each night.
I stressed about them not eating a balanced meal. I wanted to cook dinner consisting of a protein, a carb and vegetables (had to be raw veggies with dip). When they wouldn’t eat at all, I went back to the kitchen and warmed up hot dogs in the microwave, or made a box of mac & cheese. Desperate times called for desperate measures, so I quit wasting time in the kitchen, and I made, you guessed it, noodles!
Spaghetti noodles with meatballs and sauce was a favorite, more meatballs, less sauce. When sauce became an issue, I would make the noodles with melted butter and a pinch of salt. From time to time, I tried to switch it up by making the Cups of Noodles soups. All I had to do was add hot water and voila! There were miles of smiles all around the table, with the expectation that they still had to eat some raw carrots or celery. All in all, the boys continued to thrive and grow, validating the fact that some nutrition was better than none.
When the boys got into sports, they moved on to baked spaghetti and pasta salads, a few steps away from simple noodle meals. I was not a great cook, and noodles were easy to make. But I was definitely sick of making noodles, and my sons began to enjoy other kinds of foods. As the noodle nirvana dinner days came to an end, I started serving burgers, pizza, corn dogs and frozen foods. They ate what kids eat, and I wrote a book.
Ants In Pants
I would take the boys out to eat at the local fast food restaurants periodically. One day, the older two boys were at school, and I took Jordan and Evan to Wendy’s for some chicken nuggets. Jordan was approximately 3-1/2 years old, and Evan was still a baby.
We ate lunch and headed back out to the car. I was strapping Evan into his car seat, and Jordan was pacing back and forth, wanting to get into the car. I said to him, “Calm down. Do you have ants in your pants?” When I turned around to grab him to lift him into the car, he had pulled his pants down and was working on his underwear. I said, “What are you doing?!” Jordan answered, “I was looking to see where the ants were.”
A volume of explanation followed as I helped him pull up his pants. I learned a valuable lesson. Children are literal beings and we are their teachers. I included the page in the Oodles of Noodles book with the ants in the boy’s pants in memory of the teachable moment for my son and me.
Ken's Sketchpad