Dear audience,
A poet, I am not. Like not even a little bit. But as I was watching my son eat lunch one day and then again when I cleaned up after him, I felt an undeniable urge to put pen to paper and give this whole rhyming things a shot.
Many parents know the struggle of what it’s like having a child who has, let’s call it, a particular palate. A very particular palate. The kind of particular that makes you want to pull your hair out from the boredom of watching them eat the same thing every day. But then it becomes a comfort when you realize you don’t have to try and be too creative with your meal plans.
My son is no exception to this need for sameness when it comes to the foods he will (and absolutely will not) accept. Every day, every single day, he will have the same thing (or nearly the same thing) for breakfast and lunch. Toast with jam or waffles with syrup for breakfast and then a box of KD for lunch. For a while he would eat half a mashed banana mixed with dry cereal for breakfast but I made the devastating mistake of running out of bananas for 3 days and when I finally got some, he wouldn’t go near the yellow skinned fruit for months!
I shudder to think of what would happen if I ever ran out of KD for a day.
Supper is always a struggle, as I try to add a little variety to his meals with different types of pasta, veggies, and protein. I think that, if and when my son were ever to figure out just exactly how much I freak out about this, he would probably laugh at me. Especially since by the end of many nights, I give up and end up providing him with some sort of fruit and a drink.
Sometimes I am able to score a parenting win by sneaking in some nutritional goodness into his food. Sometimes I watch with bated breath as he cautiously approaches a never-before-tried food with an interest that is more than just how to use it as ‘paint’. I nearly passed out when he puts said food into his mouth, chews, and swallows.
“Dear god. He tried a new food. Voluntarily!”
Only a few parents, whose children have sensory sensitivities on the extreme side, will understand the floor-shaking euphoria that can overcome you when that special moment happens.
Now back to the mac ‘n’ cheese of things.
I have always like KD, even back when it was called Kraft Dinner Macaroni and Cheese (no comments on my age please 😉 ). However, my enjoyment of this food is nothing compared to the enthusiasm my soon-to-be-four year old has for it, and has had for it since he started on solid foods. That kind of passion and love for a meal got me to thinking about what my life would be like if Daniel suddenly decided he didn’t like KD anymore. Or what would happen if the ‘powers that be’ continue to jack up the cost per box to the realm of gourmet level pasta.
As I’ve watched Daniel shovelling handfuls of noodles into his face, I know though, that regardless of the cost, there will always be KD in my house. Unless Daniel tells me otherwise. Me thinks that will not be happening any time soon, however.
Therefore, and without further ado, I present to you all, my composition of adoration to the boxed foodstuff of miraculously cheesy proportions.
Enjoy (with a fork or spoon – I don’t judge!)
An Ode To KD
A poem by Stephanie Sansom
Dear Kraft Dinner Macaroni and Cheese,
Your product means the whole world to me.
If our house goes even one day without your cheesy delight,
Then my day will really suck; my outlook not so shiny or bright.
The reason for this dedication, you see,
Is because of my son, diagnosed with ASD
Now you might thing I’m kidding, that I’m speaking in jest,
About how boxes (and boxes) of KD bring us so much zest.
But I could show you pictures of cheese covered smiles
That prove a box a day is totally worthwhile.
Now some may call it picky eating, some may call it a phase
How my son will eat this particular meal, day after day.
But I know deep down it’s more complicated than that,
Because dealing with his sensory issues have become ‘old hat’
When I can’t get him to eat anything else,
And I start to worry about his health,
KD is my saviour, the one thing that will bring him around
To the dinner table, heaps of cheesy noodles bowled in a mound.
A noodle here, more noodles there,
Noodles, noodles they get everywhere!
Unfortunately they end up all over my house,
Despite my cleaning efforts and protest shouts.
Maybe it’s the cheese sauce, maybe it’s not.
Maybe it’s the sound of dry noodles rattling in the box.
Whatever the reason, I could care less why
Because KD makes my son happy, and that makes me feel so high.
So my dear Kraft Dinner Macaroni and Cheese,
Now you know why your product means the whole world to me.