Mommy: Short Order Cook at The Toddler Cafe

First off I should say that even though Comfort and Joy are toddlers they do a pretty good job of eating. But they are toddlers.

Secondly, much of our amusement features around the renaming that Comfort have given to many of her favorite foods. Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Coffee Cake [from Once a Month Mom] has been abbreviated to Chocolate Chip Breakfast Cake. Parmesan cheese is 'cheesy sprinkles'. Ravioli is 'cheese hats'. Sausage is 'meat circles'.

It got DH and I to thinking that it resembled, in some ways, a short order restaurant. Then my mind began to think about the menu at Toddler Cafe. Of course, there would be pasta and chicken nuggets and dip. Dips would vary based on the item being dipped. If it's waffles - the dip is syrup. If it's nuggets - the dip could be 'yellow' [honey mustard], 'red' [ketchup], or 'white' [Ranch]. Same would hold true for veggies, except I doubt if anyone wants to use syrup, Ick.

Breakfast items that work well at our house:

• Eggs
• Meat Circles
• Chocolate Chip Breakfast Cake
• Waffles and Dip
• Cereal - Tiger Cereal or Daddy Cereal [Translation: Frosted Flakes or Mini-Wheats]
• Cereal Bar [Translation: Pop-Tart]
• Blueberry Muffins
• Cheese Danish

Lunch and Dinner Items:

• Pasta with Cheesy Sprinkles
• Chicken with Dip [Yellow Dip especially]
• Cheese Hats with Cheesy Sprinkles
• Cheesy Pizza
• Cheese Quesadilla

By now, you've noticed that my kids love cheese. They do take after their mom. In fairness, they do enjoy fruit and veggies too but these items don't have cute names - except for broccoli - which is referred to as 'trees' and generally eaten raw and plain.

I also kinda like that Comfort has adopted my mispronunciation of 'syrup'. Both of us only give it one syllable and even though her striking accent isn't mine, some of her speech patterns undoubtedly are. And as our Adventure Girls get older, and Joy begins talking more, I kind of hope that they don't leave too much of this behind. It's true that no server at a restaurant will ever figure out what they mean when they order cheese hats but it's still part of their background and part of what makes them unique. And personally, I think that's a Cool Idea.