wait wait...don't tell me!

big brother and i (1983?)

my brother and i took care of ourselves (read: unsupervised) briefly while my mom recovered from surgery or illness when we were pretty young.  i mean, she was in the house, just in bed. we stayed with my godmother for a second while mom was in the hospital. and it was at my fairy godmother's house that i enjoyed my first salami sandwich (i had no idea that such deliciousness existed - it was a real treat).

bill and i returned home when mom recovered but i only remember her being bedridden while we ransacked the house.  we made an excellent blanket fort out of the dining room table and managed to use all the dishes in the house, including the china that was reserved only for holidays.  bill tried to make a stew of noodles and crackers in the crock pot while we played in our pj's for what seemed like forever.  i probably had dreadlocks because brushing my hair would have interfered with our free-for-all.

the time my dad came over to check us, bill(y) and i were on our hands and knees eating cereal out of bowls on the kitchen floor.

(probably what my dad's face looked like)

saturday, paul reubens was on npr's "wait wait...don't tell me!".  he mentioned that while pee wee's playhouse was on the air, he had attempted (like all good saturday morning hosts) to license a cereal.  the purina manufactured breakfast would taste like pee wee's favorite, kix. it couldn't pass the kid's taste test - they wanted more SUGAR!!!! pee wee chow's commercial would feature a 50's housewife preparing breakfast for her children.  she would place the bowls on the floor and her sleepy-eyed children would crawl out on all fours to woof (pun intended) down their first meal of the day.

i am certain that art imitates life.
mr. reubens: rest assured that i have always preferred the not-so-sugary stuff.  i would have chowed down on pee wee chow every.single.morning (that is if my dad hadn't hated you so much).