Count Carobula

I am watching my two sons run like madmen around the house, one with a mini-Chewbacca, the other with with a mini-Ewok. Both are singing the Star Wars song. Well, they are not really singing, since there are no words, but they are somehow constructing the melody in a way that is louder than a hum but quieter than a scream.  Speaking of Star Wars songs without words, my wife sang the Ewok “song” (aka “Yub Nub“) in middle school as part of a choir program.  Was this required in the North Thurston School District in mid 1980s?

So my kids are going crazy and it’s about 10 minutes until their bed time. And like many modern parents I would like to blame this on sugary cereal. I would blame everything on those crunchy, high-fructosed-corn-syrup-drenched and “well-balanced” breakfast treats if I could. Global Warming? Blame Captain Crunch. Money problems? Cookie Crisp is the culprit. Failing relationships? Reese’s Puffs.  But of course, my kids didn’t have cereal for dinner, as convenient as that would have been, so I just can’t use it! Darn!

This reminded me of the health kick my mom took our family on when I was a kid. Chocolate was banished by it’s healthier cousin, carob. The healthier relative was later found out to be in no way related to cocoa and it took about a millisecond for my 8-year-old tastebuds to figure that out.  Nevertheless we ate the brown substance (the color being the only similarity I could observe) for quite awhile.  While perusing the healthier food section of the Tumwater or Yelm Hwy Safeways, maybe I will see a Count Chocula alternative with carob and excite my children with my discovery. I am sure they would love it.