Alex Banana

Alex has been volunteering for PE Camp again this month, and tomorrow is his last day. They traditionally go to Landa Park on the last day (which is actually on Thursday), but it's not required and he doesn't want to go. This past weekend, I bought Pepperidge Farm cookies because they were on sale at Target, and I anticipated making banana pudding again soon. When Alex saw the Chessmen cookies, he immediately thought of the banana pudding I made last month for his birthday, so he asked me about it. He then requested that I make it for his last day, so he can invite friends over for some banana pudding.

He has been bragging to them that my banana pudding is the best. That makes me feel good, but all I do is follow Paula Deen's recipe for "Not Yo' Mama's Banana Pudding" (the lightened version), so it's not like it's my own personal recipe. Alex LOVES bananas and he eats upwards of five a day when we have them, so his love for banana pudding is not a surprise.

Alex was also interested in helping me make the banana pudding, even going to HEB and shopping for the ingredients with me. He wanted Patrick to give Eric his bath tonight so we could start making the pudding, although I went ahead and did that first.

I gave Alex the job of layering the cookies across the bottom of the dish, then cutting and layering the bananas on top of the cookies. He was cracking me up the whole time. First of all, he commented on how I had bought the Spring version of Chessmen cookies, so there were flowers on them instead of chess pieces. Then, he was eating the bananas even while he was cutting them for the pudding. He said, "What else am I going to do with the ends of the bananas?" I thought it was humorous that he felt like he couldn't put the end parts of the banana in the pudding. It's not like anyone can tell what shape the bananas are when it's all put together.

Alex was almost dancing during the process, also taking pictures with his phone after each step, so he could put it in his "Story" on Snapchat. At one point he was saying that he was cutting bananas "like a master" just before he hurt his finger with the butter knife because he wasn't paying attention. He laughed at himself for that one. I was also amused when I told him how to "fold" the whipped topping into the cream cheese mixture and he likened it to "yin yang". I had to agree that the motion is similar to the "yin yang" symbol. He tried to do the "folding" himself and he didn't do a great job, but I was pleased that he tried. After I put the pudding mixture in the dish, he finished it off by layering the Chessmen cookies in a pattern.

When he heard that the pudding had to set in the refrigerator for a few hours, he yelled up to Natalie to tell her not to eat any banana pudding until he gets home from PE camp tomorrow afternoon. I also reminded him that he had to save some for me also, for when I get home from work. He told me not to worry, but you know what damage teenage boys can do!