Thursday, April 16, 2009

Parenting Flashback: The Coke Baba

I don't think that she has ever actually denied this--the woman is nothing if not secure in her parenting choices--but here is proof, ocular proof, that my mother gave me Coke in a baby bottle.

Coke Baba

Is this practice familiar to anyone else? Sometimes I wonder what things we do now that will be seriously outmoded to our future children. I certainly remember my little sister (and maybe my brother) getting coke babas, but by then the carefree 70's had given way to the 80's. It is amazing that I have all of my teeth, and that they're in good working order. By the way, do you like my poor man's scanner?

And look at that pillowcase! I wish I had those sheets today. Also, giant rubber pants, check. Hereditary crazy hair, check. Raggedy Ann, check, and she's still around.

You know what I just learned? In Photoshop, you can correct redeye in a photograph of a photograph. You know what's weird? Correcting your baby self's redeye in a photo of a decades-old snapshot. Seriously, it's a strange feeling, kind of like when one of your hands goes to sleep and you touch it with your other hand.

This is my Funky Foto Flashback for Bex, who calls her meme "the most underrated on the internet." I totally agree, so go check it out over there. Or hang around and 'fess up to the Mountain Dew and strawberry smoothies you make for your kids.


21 comments:

Bex said...

that's awesome! i love your poor man's scanner! i had rubber pants too. that pillow case is totally hip again.

coke in a baby bottle - i have heard of this but my parents just did the thimble of whiskey in my milk to help me sleep. and you know what? i'm not too screwed up because of it! just a little bit. ;-)

Bex said...

... and your cuticles look very well taken care of. i wish i was more like you in that dept.

Zion said...

Depending on the scanner and the camera (which I can tell that you have a good one) taking a photo of a photo is a better duplicate anyway. I never thought about the idea of photoshopping your past, that is little weird when you think about it. I feel like I am in the future now.

Bren said...

Before you mentioned the pillowcase, I was all,
"I'm totally gonna comment on that pillowcase!"

Apparently I got a lot of paregoric. A LOT.

What things do we do now that would be seriously outmoded to our future children? The only thing I can think of is perhaps the intense attention to and documentation of their childhoods. They'll be like, geez, mom, why didn't you just go out and play tennis or something?!

Michele said...

As the mom of adult (cough 25 & 23 cough) children I can safely say I probably so screwed them up. My kids had the big rubber pants & the crazy hair but I never put coke in a bottle. I didn't own any bottles. My kids went from breast to cup. Can you say "hippy earth mother" yeah, that was be me.

Michele R said...

Are you sure it isn't grape juice??? I must say you look very happy and healthy. Cool photo!

Anonymous said...

I think the scanner is genius and I agree, your cuticles are very well looked after.

Things that might seem outmoded - hmm, I don't know. It kind of goes in swings and roundabouts - big rubber pants might seem outdated but people are using them again now (albeit slightly smaller ones!).

Ginny Marie said...

You look so cute, just lounging on your pillow with Raggedy Ann! Your picture of a picture turned out great!

Keely said...

WOW. I think my Mom's head would have exploded. She was very much the "hippy earth mother", too (although my brother and I both got teeth at 3 months so our "drinking from the tap" was cut short).

The disassociation of editing a photo of a photo of your past is a little weird, though.

Krista P said...

She's gonna be in trouble!!! lol

I have a picture somewhere of my walking around carrying one of those big glass bottles of Pepsi.

How times have changed ;)

Amy said...

AWESOME. This is like Bigfoot devotees finally seeing one--you always knew it was real, you just couldn't prove it. Mom was always *vague* about our coke baba accusations and now we know! And you're right--she is secure in her choices, and may I say, has every reason to be. Cause I still think we turned out pretty good. ;)

What will be outmoded in 20-30 years? I think Bren has a good point. I also think we overmanage our kids' emotions and experiences to some extent. Maybe they'll look back and be all, "Geez, guys. Chill already."

Becky said...

Well, I just talked to mom, and she said that it WAS a coke baba, but that I had been sick and she was trying to get fluids in me. Because there was no Pedialyte in the olden days. I asked her if she gave us coke in baby bottles often, and she said, "Not that much, you know, occasionally." LOL.

And the funny thing is that she was and is kind of an earth mother, with a big dash of Southern thrown in. Which explains the Coke. Coke is its own food group down here.

Maggie said...

I remember that picture and may I say, don't dis the hair. I have gone to battle with the neighborhood boys over your hair back in the day!BTW, your mom taught me the coke in the bottle trick with my own kids. It is a southern thang.

Hootie said...

My mom's big thing was "You have a stomach ache? Well, have some flat co-cola to settle your stomach." I'm still not sure what my stomach was settling for.

But as far as the "photoshopping yourself" thing goes... I was blown away by this:

http://www.wallpaper.com/newgallery/17050945/1

So simple, but so like an actual dream in its matter-of-factness.

Casey said...

Your scanner is great, I thought you did it for effect. And you have a purty thumb, I don't mean that in a pervy way either.

Ha, I'm glad you have photo evidence to guilt your mom with if you ever need it. I've heard of coke in baby bottles but I've never seen it until today. You were a cutie!

Drama Queen Jenner said...

My children have had Dr. Pepper in their sippy cups, although I was not the one that gave it to them. Love your scanner - have used it myself, because stealing the 12x17 portrait (framed on the wall at nanny's house) to take home and put on the scanner was frowned upon. Those doing the frowning also did the laughing, but I got that picture, so there!

The Dental Maven said...

Not acceding to the pressure of the more forward thinkers, my mother was one of the old holdouts who believed Coca-Cola held medicinal properties. We NEVER had soda in the house, but if we were sick we would get the syrup version of Coca-Cola mixed in with our milk.
Oddly, we survived our childhood.

Lawyer Mom said...

I so envy your technical expertise. Wouldn't know a scanner if it hit me in the head, nor do I know how to do photoshop. Sounds neat, though. You can scan in old photographs and they come out good as new? Very cool.

Wendy said...

Um, no, those big rubber pants don't make your butt look big. I promise. :)

Beth said...

We got the coke syrup on crushed ice when we had a stomach virus.

Since we've moved to the South I've discovered a regional thing about tea in baby bottles. It's supposed to build good tooth enamel...but I'm guessing the sugar in sweet tea can't be helping much.

Sara said...

this is great! you sure were cute and content,so maybe mom was on to something.
we got whiskey in our tea when we were sick and lots of second hand smoke. still kickin' here, tho.