Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Damn, I'm a great mom

Over Memorial Day weekend, I got a bee in my bonnet that the boys and I were going to make our own popsicles. It was easy to get Bub on board. He's up for anything and has been overheard saying, "I just love projects." Little Bit is likewise up for anything, especially if it's messy and involves his big brother.

It was raining on the morning of Memorial Day and hubby had some work to do. I got Sweet P to sleep (easy for hubby to work and "watch" her at same time) and took the boys to Target in search of popsicle molds.
Damn, I'm a great mom and a great wife. NTB.
Target, of course, had the molds and in such cute colors that I had to buy three sets at $2.99 each.
Then, we stopped at Trader Joe's to buy some organic yogurt. We already had plenty of fresh fruit at home because, damn, I'm a great mom.
I let the boys help me wash out the molds despite the splashing and the irresponsible use of the sprayer because, damn, I'm a great mom.
The boys perched on the bar stools next to the island, and I pretended to be a sort of Rachael Ray/Sandra Lee hybrid filming a cooking demo on how to make your own popsicles because, damn, I'm a dork.
The boys and I mixed up a batch of Double Strawberry Popsicles (diced up strawberries and strawberry yogurt), Blueberry Banilla (blueberries and vanilla yogurt), and the yet unnamed but surely awesome third combination of bananas, vanilla yogurt, and chocolate chips.
I even let Bub help spoon yogurt into the molds himself and remained calm as Little Bit methodically spread yogurt all over the island. I was patient and enthusiastic and really stinking proud of myself for being, you know, such a great mom.
I was also as excited as the boys were about the popsicles. After dinner, I promised, the popsicles would be ready.
And they were.
Frozen solid.
But I could not and still cannot get those damn popsicles out of the molds. I can pull the sticks out, no problem, but a stick with a popsicle attached? Nope. What's that you say? "Run the molds under hot water." Oh. Tried that. Still could only remove the sticks.
I also had the idea that if I tapped the bottom of one of the molds with my metal ice cream scooper then the popsicle would pop right out. Frozen plastic cracks easily. Lesson learned.
The boys still really wanted popsicles after dinner and we had to appease them by offering the Pedialyte popsicles that we have on hand for the aftermath of diarrhea and vomiting. I like to keep my kids hydrated, you see, because, damn, I'm a great mom.
Or, at least, I want to be a damn great mom.
So, help this mom out by giving me any advice you might have regarding successful homemade popsicles. And, while you're at it, what are some of the activities you lead around your house that give you that "Damn, I'm a great mom" feeling. What super cool things did your mom do with you when you were little? How do you and yours like to pass the summer days? School's out (or nearly out) for most of us which leaves extra days and hours to prove what great moms we are.
Please share your favorite kid-friendly activities in the comments. Please. Everyone wants to hear from you because, damn, you're a great mom!

14 comments:

Alexandra said...

ahem...it's the dork factor that makes you a great mom, cant' have one w/o the other.

What I do is this with popsicles: mix in a VERY SMALL amt of corn oil with the fruit and yogurt mix...and voila! you can't taste it, and the popsicles pop out...

Sara G said...

I love that you used the phrase, "bee in my bonnet."

No advice here on plastic molds. I had equal success with jello a few months back.

Great mom moment? I'm very good at giving my kids lollipops when we shop at Costco.

Miss you!

Jen Kuhel said...

Wish I could have a damn I'm a great mom day like you did. I'm still working on the damn I'm a great mom moment. When I have enough collected, I'll call that a day.

I haven't tried this as a mom, but I seem to recall moms past (not mine, naturally) making popsicles out of Dixie cups with sticks. There's fun and suspense in tearing off the cup, no?

T-Baby said...

You might have been too ambitious in your first attempt by using yogurt and fruit. Try again with simple frozen Kool-Aid and see if the popsicles come out.

Love,
T-Baby

E... said...

We have a set of same popsicle molds -- these were perhaps even from the dollar bin. We tried them last summer, with just juice, and had no luck either. Just stickless stuck stuff. Still felt drawn in by the cute new 2.99 ones this year -- what is wrong with me?
We tend to do "special drinks" instead, AKA smoothies. The kids love that we haul the blender out, and drop in ridiculous combinations of fruit and juice. I stick brown bananas in the freezer all the time just for this purpose. They get to drink them in "careful cups" (no lids) with straws.
In my own damn great mom moment yesterday, I filled buckets with water and gave the kids brushes to let them paint the driveway, and O. promptly got stung with a wasp and then wouldn't come back outside.
You ARE a damn great mom, btw.

Amy said...

NTB, but I have had success at yogurt pops very recently. My secret...Trix yogurt. They even include the stick to put into their yogurt cups. Okay, so that's probably lazy on my part and I don't really deserve the "damn good mom" status, but hey what the kid doesn't know won't hurt her.

Sue and Randy said...

I had a "danm I'm a good mom" a few weeks ago when I made a picnic lunch and took the girls to downtown Houston to check out a big/new park, Discovery Green. On the way home, Amanda said, "that was fun, but we could have done all that at the park by our house and not had to drive." My thoughts exactly...

Stacia said...

I bet your island now has a lustrous sheen, thanks to its coat of yogurt, no? =>

And my damn-good-mom moment? Gluing at the kitchen table. Gluing anything to paper is apparently hours of fun. Getting glue off the chairs and table? Not so much ...

Anonymous said...

Did you consider spraying the molds with Pam first?

CaraBee said...

Okay, my only advice was to use Pam, which someone beat me to it and actually sounds kind of yucky the more I think about it.

My damn Im a good mom moment came today when as I was carrying her out of the library, they have a lovely kids room, and she slapped me about the head in protest, that I did NOT leave her in the parking lot with a "free to good home" sign around her neck. Oy vey. That probably doesn't count but I'm feeling a little unworthy at the moment.

Good luck on future popscicling!

Anonymous said...

Wow - corn oil. Who'd a thunk it?

But you're a great mom simply for attempting to make homemade popsicles!!

(By the way, it's Miss Welcome. Suddenly I can't comment anymore without my name disappearing).

sarah d said...

what about putting the plastic molds in warm water to melt the popsicles just enough to loosen them out of the molds?

Melissa Margello Walters said...

scratch the popsicles, I don't know hpw to do that, but another fun cooking dessert is to make chocolate pudding(damn good mom lets kids stir of course), put it in ice cream cones(dgm lets kids scoop, of course) with a few sprinkles on top(dgm lets kids sprinkle, of course) and then freeze them. Kind of popsicle-ish and its frozen, and no stick or gross oil. I've made these and I don't think you can mess them up.

You are a good mom. :) And you're kids will have some great stories one day.

Anonymous said...

Great post! I have no advice. I just enjoyed the post.

 
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