When I was a kid, Kool-Aid was a staple in our house. We had a "Kool-Aid Man" pitcher and we made the stuff by adding two or more cups of sugar to a packet every single day. My mom bought the packets in bulk and we always had a supply on hand. We sold it on the sidewalk in red, white and blue Bi-Centennial cups. We never made any money because we usually drank it before the customers started coming. It was kind of an All-American thing and I loved it.
When I became a mom, my sister gave me my very own Kool-Aid Man pitcher to carry on the tradition. I think she saved up KoolAid points and ordered it. Anyway, the KoolAid man pitcher sat in the cupboard for a long time because of my own personal rule that calories should not be consumed in a beverage. My kids don't even like juice so we were a milk and water kind of family.
That all changed one Saturday night about six months ago, when Tim hit the local Safeway and decided that our kids needed to drink a bright red beverage on a daily basis!! My reaction is the mom reaction of "they are going to spill it all over" and "they will have eternal red mustaches." I couldn't get upset about the sugar thing because he bought sugar-free. I relented and searched for my Kool-Aid Man pitcher only to remember that several years ago Tim used it to mix paint, so that was out.
Our kids had no idea what Kool-Aid was. (I guess they don't play these commericals anymore with Kool-Aid man riding a skateboard while crashing through something.)
Snasauge got the name of his new beverage of choice mixed up and started calling it "fruit leg." Tropical punch, sugar-free "Fruit Leg" is now a staple in our home. I have mellowed about it a bit. We make it by the gallon and it doesn't last long. My children spill it every other day and I scrub red mustaches off every night. My kitchen has a fine layer of red dust everywhere. I scrubbed the blinds and the top of the fridge the other day and the rag turned red!! How lovely!
When I became a mom, my sister gave me my very own Kool-Aid Man pitcher to carry on the tradition. I think she saved up KoolAid points and ordered it. Anyway, the KoolAid man pitcher sat in the cupboard for a long time because of my own personal rule that calories should not be consumed in a beverage. My kids don't even like juice so we were a milk and water kind of family.
That all changed one Saturday night about six months ago, when Tim hit the local Safeway and decided that our kids needed to drink a bright red beverage on a daily basis!! My reaction is the mom reaction of "they are going to spill it all over" and "they will have eternal red mustaches." I couldn't get upset about the sugar thing because he bought sugar-free. I relented and searched for my Kool-Aid Man pitcher only to remember that several years ago Tim used it to mix paint, so that was out.
Our kids had no idea what Kool-Aid was. (I guess they don't play these commericals anymore with Kool-Aid man riding a skateboard while crashing through something.)
Snasauge got the name of his new beverage of choice mixed up and started calling it "fruit leg." Tropical punch, sugar-free "Fruit Leg" is now a staple in our home. I have mellowed about it a bit. We make it by the gallon and it doesn't last long. My children spill it every other day and I scrub red mustaches off every night. My kitchen has a fine layer of red dust everywhere. I scrubbed the blinds and the top of the fridge the other day and the rag turned red!! How lovely!
But, in the spirit of this blog, "Small and Simple Things" I am going to let the Kool-Aid tradition live on. I thought about trying to convince the family to switch the flavor to grape but then I decided that since "red" is an accent color in my house, purple stains on the floor and fine layer of purple dust just wouldn't go. Maybe the folks at Kool-Aid will heed my suggestion to make a color-less, sugar-free beverage, but probably not. I guess I better do a search on ebay for a Kool-Aid man pitcher. The tradition continues.
5 comments:
OK, so if you find a pitcher I would love one too. That brings back so many memories. My family loved these commercials. I will be on the lookout also. Your blog is really cute and so are your kids!!!
You are way too cute!! We have the same layer of multi-colored dust here too!
Hey, I remember that commercial--does that date me or what!
We totally had the pitcher...and matching cups. That brings back so many memories! My kids are deprived and have never had Kool-aid...maybe I need to loosen up. Hey, Walker switched to morning pre-school so we can do lunch now! We also need to do a date night.
We have some little girls up the street that are here quite a bit and they love the Kool-Aid man pitcher (we have the original you grew up with). I think my kids drink way too much but it is a favorite around here!!
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