What's for Dinner?

I was a Classics major in college. I think about it at the funniest times, like this morning as I rummaged through the cupboards to find ANYTHING for breakfast. While I tried to persuade V to choose between popcorn or canned manderin oranges for the most important meal of the day, I remembered the topic that consumed me for a whole year in graduate school.



The lofty title of my master's thesis was "What's for Dinner? Issues of Food and Control in the Cena Trimalchionis of Petronius's Satyricon". My argument was that the imagery of this particular portion of the Satyricon deliberately equated food--access to, preparation and presentation of--with control. Throughout this famous section of the bawdy Roman tale, the host, Trimalchio, served outrageously constructed dishes at a lavish banquet. The more elaborate the presentation, the more subserviant were the consumers and the more control the master exerted. Other vignettes revealed less powerful players serving or providing less complicated meals.

Whatever.

I really enjoyed writing that paper and I even tried to expore the theme throughout the entire longer work, but every time I set out to complete my thesis, I got pregnant with another child. Three kids later I finally changed my major.


It occured to me this morning (as I looked behind the cans of coconut milk and green chilis) that if I tested this thesis in my own life-- measured my own power by the presentation and preparation of food-- that I'd test out with about as much control as a plastic bag in a windstorm.



So I threw together a jelly sandwich(no peanut butter) on the last hamburger bun (the only bread in the house) and fed the kids ramen for breakfast. I never was very comfortable being in a position of power anyway.

What do you cook when there is nothing in the cupboards?

Do you have a power meal that makes you feel in control?

Quote for the day April 29

"Mom, when I get mad at someone, instead of hitting them, I'm going to write them an angry letter." (V, age 10)

What did you overhear today?

Top family TV shows at our house

Our family is pretty addicted to TV. Watching the tube is a participatory event at our house and very little vegging-out actually occurs. This can be a good thing and a bad thing.

The good part is that the kids are engaged with what they see. A single sit-com episode might inspire several trips to Google, dragging out the atlas, measuring and note-taking along with constant talking over the dialogue-- so much so that we have to go back and watch the episode again.

The bad thing is that some nights I'm so tired from my day that the last thing I want to do is moderate an argument about whether it was Aerosmith or ZZ Top who appeared on the "Flaming Moe's" episode of the Simpsons (it was Aerosmith).

We seem to be pretty caught up in the 70's and 80's around here (for movies too). Between Netflix and sites like Hulu and Fancast, we rarely watch broadcast TV. Which is a good thing since we're living on borrowed time with our old analog set.

Here are some of the Bowen-Biggs' Favorite Family TV Shows. I hope you will add your favorites to the list. These are for school aged kids. When they were younger we pretty much only watched PBS Kids (Zoom was our favorite!)

1. MacGyver -- Probably the most influential TV show for our family. Handsome, rugged scientist with a mullet and a heart of gold. Loved the environment before it was cool. Totally turned my kids onto science. Memorable Quote: "Well, when it comes down to me against a situation, I don't like the situation to win." And V just reminded me that Henry Winkler (yes, the Fonz) was a producer of the show. Whats not to like?
Best ages 7-12. Don't bother watching the last season, its terrible. You can get away with giving your kids nothing but Duct tape for birthdays and Christmas for several years if they are fans of this show.

2. Gilligan's Island -- Who needs the modern show "Lost" when you can watch the original? Gilligan and the Skipper are adorably buffoonish, the Howells are howlingly funny and Ginger and Mary Anne are still some of the sexiest women ever to be on TV. And the professor. . .who do you think MacGyver got it from? Best ages 6-11. Older kids can be too "cool" for the cheezy sets.

3. Brady Bunch -- Okay, it sounds corny, but when my kids were about 8-12 they loved this show. The Brady kids are always doing something interesting: putting on plays, writing jingles that they hope will make them famous, attempting to break Guinness records. Just the kinds of things that my kids like to do in their spare time. And while Greg pulled pranks on his younger siblings and often dressed like a game show host, he was a good brother. Plus, if your kids ever complain about sharing a room you can remind them that all six Brady kids had to share only two rooms.

4. The Simpsons -- this is my most controversial pick, but say what you will about it, Marge Simpsons is the inspiration for my most successful parenting tricks. My kids have never bought into any of my attempts to discipline them unless they saw it first on the Simpsons. I'll admit that my kids have been watching this since they were very young. In fact, when I found out I was pregnant with V, in my panic/confusion/joy I immediately wrote out a list of families that I knew with three kids. The Simpsons were at the top of the list.

Other shows worth mentioning: Mork and Mindy, Charmed, Freaks and Geeks, Dr. Who (our latest obsession)

What are your go-to shows for family viewing? Outside of the box please! And let us know what ages you think are best.