My blog friend Sue mentioned in a recent post that she has been dyeing wool yarn with Kool-Aid ( go see — so pretty!) and then mentioned rather offhandedly that her daughter really wants to make some for, you know, actual drinking.
That got me thinking — how many of you grew up drinking Kool-Aid?
*much noise as hands go in the air*
Yeah, that’s a lot of hands.
Now, how many of you actually let your kids drink it?
*sound of crickets*
Yeah, that’s what I thought. We Gen-Xers aren’t as keen on letting our kids drink chemicals mixed with sugar as our parents were. (Note to my mother: I’m not passing judgment on your parenting.) I can think of any number of crap-laden junk foods I will allow — Cool Ranch Doritos, Twinkies, and candy buttons — but for some reason I draw the line at Kool-Aid. No, I have no idea why.
I drank so much Kool-Aid when I was growing up — LOVED the “cherry” flavor! — that I figure it’s now in my DNA and my great-grandchildren will be affected. I can only imagine what kinds of shit I have coursing through my cells from the gallons of Kool-Aid I drank back in the 70s and 80s.
When I was growing up, we had a plastic pitcher that was shaped exactly like the Kool-Aid Man and that is what we used to store our Kool-Aid. It wasn’t a very large pitcher — maybe 24 or 30 ounces — but I can distinctly remember mixing up the Kool-Aid packet, a CUP of sugar, and water many, many, many times during my life. My teeth hurt just thinking about it.
For my 4th birthday, I had a birthday party and the beverage served to my guests was Kool-Aid in that very plastic pitcher I just mentioned. Before the party, I noticed that my mother was setting out little plastic cups that were mini versions of the pitcher. I love them and was PISSED when I realized that they were going home with my so-called friends and that I would not be getting one myself. There was some lame explanation of how I was getting actual birthday presents and that I didn’t need a dinky cup when I was getting Baby Tender Love (or whatever it was that I got). I did not agree. There may or may not have been a tantrum involved.
You think I’m making this up? I have photographic evidence of the travesty:
I just checked eBay and I could very easily get the cups that I was deprived of 36 years ago, but I think I’ve gotten over the angst. Well, maybe.
So yeah, Kool-Aid was my drink of choice way back in the day.
Do you remember the commercials where the Kool-Aid Man would burst through a wall yelling “Oh yeah!” Now that was some GREAT acting. I can’t believe no one won an award for that.
I did a quick Wikipedia search some hard investigative research on Kool-Aid and learned, among other things, that Kool-Aid was invented in the 1920s and was derived from a drink called Fruit Smack, which I think we all can agree is one of the best names ever. By naming it thus, the makers of Fruit Smack were telling you honestly that their beverage contained a drug that would cause Depression-era children to become addicted and then nag their parents incessantly for a penny to go down to the corner store and buy a case of the stuff.
I’m trying to think if my girls have ever had Kool-Aid and I’m guessing they’ve gotten it at a birthday party or some other similarly unsupervised event. Otherwise, they certainly aren’t getting it here at Jenworld. Frankly, I don’t care if they end up in therapy over this tragic deprivation — that’s just the way life is and they’ll somehow manage to live without Kool-Aid coursing through their veins.
But I might be amenable to buying them some great cups.
See now, we are still Kool-Aid drinkers. I’m really an 8 year old when it comes to beverage choices. Real fruit juice? So heavy. Water? Okay but dull. Crystal Lite? Good but chemically equal to Kool-Aid, if not worse. What’s left? Soda? I can’t have too much and my kids don’t really drink it. Milk? With dinner? yes. After mowing the lawn? Fail. I’ll take a tall glass of cherry kool aid with ice please.
We balance it out with our dislike of Twinkies.
I totally had the pitcher too. But not the cups…I had cups of some characters of other sugary drink mix…must go investigate…
Funny Face! Sad, how excited I was to see the grape and lemonade cups…
no idea how to post a link.
I don’t believe I have ever given my kids Koolaid (and yes, I managed to drink some when I was a kid : )
We actually have one of those Koolaid pitchers (cherry red color!) and one little matching cup. I think hubby picked them up at a garage sale somewhere. It’s funny that my kids love juice from that pitcher but have no idea that it’s a character for a product they’ve never tasted : )
We don’t have and didn’t have Kool-Aid in the UK.
I lived on kool-aid, but I’ve never made a pitcher of it for my kids. I doubt they’d like it. They don’t like pop, either. Don’t feel too bad for them though, they have many, many, alternate sugar sources available to them.
My mom always refused to buy Kool-Aid for us when I was a kid, much to my dismay. I definitely had it at other kids’ houses though. Only time I ever made it was in college during a week long volunteer trip. They broke us out into groups and rotated each group through a different assignment each day – one of those days we had to make the meals for all of the other groups. On my group’s day to cook, someone put me in charge of mixing the Kool-Aid for the other groups’ lunches. Since these were huge jugs of Kool-Aid and my math isn’t the best, it’s possible I may have miscalculated the sugar/Kool-Aid ratio. Oops! Let’s just say everyone had LOTS of energy that afternoon!
OMG!!!! The amount of Kool-Aid I drank as a child was staggering, but does anyone remember the acid-green Hawiian Punch?
I swear that I would buy that to this day if they still made it (and drink it all before I got home b/c the kid would never be allowded to have it).
haha!
I did actually let Emma mix up a batch of lime! we started with 3/4 a cup of sugar, instead of the whole cup. They loved it. And I don’t see them aprouting a third arm or anything yet
I actually did buy Kool-Aid once for my kids as this big treat. They didn’t like it. Can you believe it?
Mostly my kids drink milk, water, or juice made from frozen concentrate (like apple or Fruitopia mixes, but they do get kool-aid occasionally. I don’t put the full amount of sugar in it though. Drinking the stuff has lost a lot of cachet since Jonestown. I draw the line at Dunkeroos. I. Will. Not. Buy. Those. Ever.
Mmmmmm…grape Kool-Aid.
Note to self – add K-A to shopping list
This is so strange – Precious Youngest just had a conversation with me about she has never once drank Kool-Aid. She seemed fine with it though!
My kid’s still a bit young for Kool-Aid, but I love it. It’s just one of those staples of summer. (Along with lemonade and fresh made chocolate chip cookies.) I figure I’m balancing out all the nastiness by using organic sugar. : ) And really – I make mine pretty watered down, so I’m getting way less sugar in Kool-Aid than I would in regular old soda. And no caffeine…
My mom always bought the sugar free version. My grandmother however always made the *best* Kool-Aid. I firmly believe it’s because she refused to follow the directions and made it in a metal pitcher. Such memories.
Of course in college we totally corrupted our Kool-Aid by adding much Vodka to it. Pink Swimingo was my drug of choice then (watermelon-y flavor). : )
There are a lot more drink choices today.
I make Kool Aid with Splenda – which may induce a whole new Bad Parenting Guilt Trip. I limit the kids to one glass per day, and that’s only after they’ve had their milk. Then I lock them up in the basement again.
Does anyone remember Fizzies?
We LIVED on Kool-Aid. I think my mom figured it was better than giving us pop/soda and there is a small trace of Vitamin C in Kool-Aid. And at least we were hydrated.
I still drink sugar-free Kool-Aid by the pitcher. But you’re right, none of it is good for you and I wouldn’t give it to my kids if I had any. I’d make them learn to love water.
I didn’t get to drink it. My mom’s diabetic so there’s nothing like that in her house.
so now I buy it and share the magical deliciousness with my kids. Black cherry is my favorite.
Oh Kool Aid! I loved the grape but we were never allowed to leave the kitchen (with it’s tiled floor) if we were drinking it. And you are right, now I wouldn’t serve Kool Aid to anyone, and especially not children!
My husband drinks Kool Aid like it’s going out of style, but I won’t let my 4 year old have it…not even the sugar free kind. Yet, he too is allowed to have snack cakes and candy. Sigh.
We had the Kool Aid pitcher, too!!! My favorite flavor was Tropical Punch.
The Kool Aid guy was just on my mind yesterday and WE HAD THAT PITCHER AND THOSE CUPS!!! Black cherry, baby, all the way. D & I used to drink it all the time before we had kids. Seriously, we didn’t buy pop, but we drank Kool Aid at home. Now I want some…
Dang, I haven’t had Kool Aid in ages! I prefer Crystal Light now…the Cherry Pomegranate is AMAZING!
Wow. I haven’t had or thought about Kool Aid in ages. Of course, were I to go out and drink it now I would require an epi pen beside me due to the allergy to food colouring. Red Dye #49 anyone?
We don’t even have pop in our house as Ty can’t drink it.
And I’m sure the girls will not require any therapy due to a lack of Kool Aid:)
Cool Aid was affordable and we drank lots of it when I was a kid – plus we got those popsicle makers and made popsicles all the time, too.
I tried to introduce my kids to it one summer long ago – but they preferred Capri Sun.
Ah yes, I remember Kool-Aid fondly. Once while making it, I spilt it on the kitchen table which was white. I coudn’t get the red stain out and remember thinking, “hmm, is this what it does to your insides?”
Let them drink Kool aid! Then again, I don’t have children and I NEVEr liked Kool aid.
My husband can do a perfect Kool aid “Oh Yeah”. It’s kinda creepy.
Lemonade, Cherry, and Grape were the best! I do agree that Kool Aid needs to be apportioned because I can clearly remember kool aid fights in our house – whoever made the drink could expect criticism for either not putting enough sugar or putting too much sugar inside of the beverage.
And then we had fights over whose stash we would use. Hey at least we didn’t fight over illegal stuff.
And just so you know, too much sugar in kool aid is called Hood Aid or Rez Aid.
We never got Kool-Aid. Not because it wasn’t healthy, but because we got nothing sweet at all.
I can’t remember having pop, or juice, or anything fun.
Water and Milk. Is there a reason I hate milk to this day?
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“the makers of Fruit Smack were telling you honestly that their beverage contained a drug”
Do they make Sugar Smacks any more?
As far as Kool Aid staining tile, so do blueberries. And blueberries are Natural. So don’t worry about that aspect of it.