Week 7 Day 2: Fat Tuesday in Hamtramck

I've always had an affinity for donuts. Perhaps this is why I love Fat Tuesday so much. Granted, eating donuts on Fat Tuesday is not allowed. You've got to eat pączki. And if you can't find a real one, don't bother. As my sister said, "Every time you buy pączki at Krogers, a Polish angel cries. A lot." And so Stacy, Gavin and I headed to Hamtramck where Aunt Laura and Jamie live to eat pączki from a real Polish bakery (New Palace, to be exact). I'm happy to report they were delicious. We brought along Gavin's teething biscuits so that he could also have a treat, but we forgot his banana hammock so he didn't get one. I did give him a teeny tiny bit of filling from my raspberry filled paczki, however, which horrified Stacy a little, but it was worth it. Next year he can have a whole one.

Gavin got to re-meet Emma today, Laura's 13-year-old greyhound. Emma is pretty much the sweetest dog ever in the history of the universe. Laura has had her ever since Emma was two. She's a retired racer. Gavin met her once when he was too young for it to register. But now it does and he was pretty wide-eyed. Emma is, after all, much larger than Henri or Jasper. And she looks a lot different, too. He probably thought she was a pony. Actually he doesn't know what a pony is. But he clearly thought she was pretty awesome. And she is.

While we were at Laura and Jamie's I played a little Nintendo with Laura. Old school Nintendo from the late 80s. She bought the system at a flea market or something and has been scouring flea markets and stuff on the weekends for games. It was fun, but playing video games doesn't really interest me for anything but nostalgic value. I have zero desire to play current video games. That shit is just too complex. I'm sure that Gavin will one day -- sooner than later probably -- want a video game system. I'm not opposed to him having one, but I do hope that we are able to encourage an instill in him a love of reading and going outside. As of right now he isn't allowed to watch television (except for that episode of South Park Aunt Amanda put on for the two of them when she was babysitting and part of the football game at Grandpa Gary's. The TV is a ubiquitous presence at Gary's. There's really no avoiding it). No Teletubbies, no Baby Einstein videos. He doesn't need that crap right now and as a hater of children's programming, I am in no hurry for him to beg me to let him watch Diego the Exploring Train or whatever. I still have flashbacks to the shit I was subjected to while babysitting and by my own younger brother and sisters.

I am also hoping to my son will share my dislike for Elmo, by far the most annoying Sesame Street character. I loved Sesame Street as a kid and, needless to say, Elmo didn't exist then. He's an interloper. He is not O.G. I cannot stand how he talks in third person about himself and seems to always be complaining about some need he wants other people to meet: "Elmo hungry, Elmo tired." Well then eat a fucking sandwich and go to bed, Elmo. He whines more than Oscar and that dude lives in a trash can with a worm for a friend, i.e. he's homeless and insane. And yet Oscar is far more likable than Elmo the helpless imp. Gavin's Pampers have Sesame Street characters on them and whenever I put an Elmo one on him I always say, "We don't like Elmo, do we?" This is probably the wrong attitude to be teaching him.