Childhood Joys

Bill Watterson, the emminent creator of the Calvin & Hobbes comic strip, wrote a strip in which Calvin eagerly eyed the chocolate chip cookie dough batter made by his mother. When attempting to acquire a taste of the batter, Calvin's mom replied, "No dear. You could get salmonella poinsoning." Dejected and fuming, Calvin walks away saying, "Another part of nostalgic childhood goes pppbbbbtttt!! in your face." Perhaps I might think otherwise if I knew all of the debilitating effects of salmonella poisoning, but my first response was to think of the impoverished childhood Calvin would have.

I remember the different occasions when my mom baked cakes or brownies for our family, and, as a child, there were three unforgettable sensual experiences involved: the smell of the baking cake, licking the batter from the bowl, and eating the cake. While it is possible that I'm mistaken, I have a sneaking suspicion that those three experiences are universal for children. Calling upon my memories of nostalgic childhood and armed with a box of brownie mix, I decided to test my theory with Miriam.

I first asked Miriam if she wanted to help me make some brownies. In her mind, brownies = chocolate, so this is a no-lose situation. She ran into the kitchen and immediately point to her purple and white smock hanging on the hall, proclaiming, "Daddy, that's for making cooookies!!" This of course means that I needed to retrieve it from the wall and help her to put it on. As you will see in the following pictures, she certainly needed it.

While mixing up the batter, it was quite obvious that Miriam wanted to dive in head first, but she showed remarkable restraint. She also provided a great deal of assistance in mixing up the batter in the bowl. After pouring the batter into a pan, she eyed the bowl. I told her to go ahead and lick the beater and wipe the bowl with her finger. This wasn't an opportunity that she would pass up, so she didn't need to be told twice. As is obvious from the pictures, she relished the opportunity to clean the bowl, resulting in a chocolate goatee.


Miriam helping Daddy make/eat brownies


A proud "brownie face"

The rest of her actions followed my own childhood experience. She occasionally came into the kitchen to watch the brownies in the oven, chiming, "Mmmmm. Something smells gooood!" For anybody who has a child over 1 year of age, you know how the brownie eating expedition ensued--sheer joy, and crumbs falling over the floor as if the brownie was occasionally exploding!

So from this experiment in joy, I was able to accomplish two I tasks: 1.) I reaffirmed my theory on childhood experiences, and 2.) I learned the incredible value a a body-szed smock for a three-year-old.