I took the boys to see 'Where the Wild Things Are'. It was a bad idea. It turned out to be way too scary for Gavin. I was more worried about Garrett, being the younger bro. The shaky camera shots, loud booming bass, and the dark undertone proved too much for Gavin's senses. He has autism, but he can handle certain situations a lot better than others. This event fell into the "others" category.

He was uneasy from the very beginning, before Max even reached the place where the wild things lived! I felt bad for him, but I wanted him to try to tough it out. He had been so excited about going to see this movie. We had watched the trailer on YouTube about a thousand times (which, by the way, barely hints at how dark and scary 75% of the movie really is) and I was sure Gavin would be fine. He wasn't fine. He clung to me like a spider monkey, his eyes wide and watery, nervously munching popcorn and asking me if there would be any more scary parts. He would say "Daddy, if there another scary part, I will never watch it!" Then, inevitably something "scary" would happen on the screen causing him to shout out "I will never watch this! I have to get out of town right now!" He was very concerned that those huge monsters might try to eat Max, which was a valid concern since that subject does come up in the book.

"Daddy, are they going to eat him up?"

"No Gav. Remember in the book he goes home to his mom and has a warm supper?"

"Okay. I will shut my eyes for the scary part," he said nervously.

Garrett was the complete opposite. He barely seemed to notice the movie at all. It was just a side show to his main event: Skittles. He has an incredible sweet tooth, and after I gave him that giant box of Skittles nothing else mattered to him. He sat in his seat slowly savoring each single Skittle, one at a time. He goes into a trance-like state when eating anything like candy or cake. In the dark of the theater, he couldn't distinguish the colors of the candy so he frequently had to ask me. It was pretty cute. His little hand would hold each piece up to me and he would whisper "Daddy, what color is this skiggle?" I had to reply "I can't see it either. Taste it to find out." So he would pop it in his mouth, then about thirty seconds later he would say "It tasted purple."

We made it nearly to the end of the movie. I really wanted Gavin to see the end, because Max does make it home safe and sound. I wanted Gavin to at least see that it was all okay in the end. However, just as Max is leaving the island to escape the monsters, he is forced to crawl into one of the (friendly) monster's mouths to escape the others - very freaky. That was the "over the top" moment for poor Gavin. He jumped out of his seat and yelped in a shaky voice "I will not stay here! I have to get out of town right now!" So he started down the dark theater steps toward the exit, and I turned to Garrett who was by now fast asleep, his tiny hand still stuffed inside the huge "Skiggle" box. I  plucked him from his seat and we made our way down the steps. Gavin was at the bottom waiting for us, his face a portrait of terror. "This is not a good movie! I will tell mama it was not for kids! I am angry at mama!" I heard chuckles from several of the other theater patrons. Gavin is always very forthright and blunt with what's on his mind. I'm glad he can express his emotions like that, especially in a high stress situation. He used to just scream and completely melt down. To me, that's another milestone.

So in the end, we escaped the monsters, nobody was eaten. Unfortunately for Gavin, the experience was absolutely spine-chilling. His greatest fears for Max actually came true. To him, the movie ended when Max was sitting inside the monster. I still want him to see how it really ends. I guess we'll get the DVD when it comes out.

The only real victim of consumption was the box of Skittles, as evidenced by the rainbow of colors all over Garrett's sticky face.

"I thought the movie was really fun," he said enthusiastically.

"What was your favorite part, Garrett?" I asked.

He looked at me like I had two heads. "The skiggles, Daddy."

Now that I'm noticing these things, I've been seeing more and more off-color, obnoxious baby tees around. Who would put their kid in a onesie that reads "I met my dad on Maury"? or "Hung like a five year old"? I'm not a prude, but that's just an abuse of free speech. It's not like the baby can read his t-shirt, but his older siblings might have a few questions about it. There's a big difference between a funny onesie and an offensive, tasteless, not so funny onesie. If you put your kid in a shirt with a message that you think is funny, but 99% of the world sees as indecent and distasteful, the message is clear: You're a nincompoop, and hopefully your child can overcome the countless additional bad decisions you'll make for him!

We make (what we think are) funny onesies. We are proud of the baby clothes we carry, and our babies have worn many of our ideas proudly on their chests! Some of the shirts don't apply to our family, obviously. "Future Ballerina"? With three boys, probably not. "Future Mac User", now that's a shirt I know will apply. In fact, 2 of the 3 are already now Mac Users!  They are hooked on PBSkids.com, a great site with tons of fun learning games. We've got their little eMac's set up so they can't go anywhere besides a few chosen websites, and all they want to do anyway is play Super Why's games.  At 15 months, Bodie is not quite yet a Mac user. A funny onesie idea for him would be "Mac Abuser". His idea of computer usage is to bang my mouse until the batteries come out, put the parts into the office trash can, then climb onto my chair and start wailing  my keyboard like a pipe organ, re-naming the files on my desktop if possible. He has many virtues, but a tactful approach isn't in his playbook.

Our boys have always had cool baby clothes. Sara and her sisters have made sure of that. Now that Sara is in the business of making baby t-shirts, I notice different designs everywhere I go. To be honest, I don't think I ever paid attention to whether or not other parents' kids had hip baby clothes or not. Little did I realize that all these little baby clothes accessories would become such a big part of my life!

I get a lot of ribbing at work from the guys. Mostly because I'm a part-time baby onesie maker, and partly because they want to see us get a little edgier. They always come up with ideas for us - sometimes in jest, but mostly I think they really want their vulgar slogans on our baby onesies. They are a great group of guys, and a riot to work with, but their ideas can be pretty crude and tend to be mostly boob related. One of my buddies was in DC for the weekend and saw a group of topless protesters in the street with signs proclaiming "Boobs NOT Bombs". He came back on monday practically begging me to use it on our funny onesies section. I told him I'd put it in Sara's suggestion box. 

Looks like I'll be doing a whole lot of baking this week. Much more than is the norm for me. Unfortunately, it's supposed to be in the 70's all week, instead of the crisp weather we should be having this time of year. Especially since the oven will be pumping out the heat and there is clam chowder on the menu!

The last menu plan I put together was just... so so. The only thing worth mentioning again was the Ultimate Grilled Cheese Sandwiches. They were truly incredible and loved by all. Best grilled cheese I've ever made, by far. I'm still on the lookout for the perfect pizza dough recipe, though. The one we tried from the last menu plan just didn't cut it. :(

I reference everything on the menu with a link to the recipe, unless it's something that doesn't require one. If the link directs you to another website, it means that I have not tried the recipe, and therefore have no idea whether it is good or not. :) If the link leads to a posted recipe here on my blog, it means that it is a tried & true family recipe that we love. I will also revisit some of the recipes I link to and leave comments about how they turned out for us the following week.

Dinner Menu :: November 16th - 22nd 2009

Monday
Pasta with Pink Vodka Sauce
Grammy's Simple Salad
French Bread Rolls

Tuesday
Apricot-Pistachio Chicken Salad Sandwiches
Chips
Cantaloupe Slices
Cottage Cheese

Wednesday
Leftovers/clean out the fridge night!
Best Cake Brownies

Thursday
Martha's Vineyard Clam Chowder
Amish White Bread

Friday
Midwestern Sloppy Joes, circa 1965
Baked French Fries (frozen)

Saturday
Leftovers from Thursday and Friday.

Sunday
Sweet Bean Burritos
Lime Jell-O

If you try anything listed here, I'd love to know how it turns out for you! For more menu ideas, or to submit your own plan, visit orgjunkie.com.