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Friendsgiving - Juice Boxes

A little while ago, the Mild Wife and I decided to host some friends for a Thanksgiving celebration (a "Friendsgiving," if you will). We figured we'd play it straight for this particular outing, so we offered to make the turkey. Still, other folks were inevitably going to ask what they should bring, so we let them pick something that reminded them of home cooking. Basically, it was more of an excuse to sit, talk, eat, and be merry than an expectation that they bring their culinary A game.

This, however, led to a discussion about what to pair the turkey with. We had lots of options, and everyone loves a good side dish at Thanksgiving. Heck, some people care only for the side dishes. So, we put a bit more thought into what else we were going to make that day. We did ultimately settle on a few items that were a hit (including the infamous cheesecake), but the bit that really led to some laughter the beverage selection.

You see, we had a combination of folks at the party, including some munchkins. That meant that we had to have at least something that they could consume. Alcohol is fun and all, but it's an adult beverage. We couldn't very well serve wine to two-year-olds. We needed something else. In the end, we settled on juices boxes. Honest Kids juice boxes.

The minute we brought it up, I was sold. I loved juice boxes as a kid, and even hearing them mentioned immediately turned me into a six year old ago. I don't remember exactly what I said, but I suspect it was basically something like, "cool! We should totally do that!" Like I said, I am a big fan of juice boxes.

The real fun, though, began when folks started to show up on the day of Friendsgiving. The first people to show had a young daughter, barely fourteen months old. That little girl had never even had juice before, but she apparently paid enough attention when the items were being described that she caught the word "juice." So, the munchkin who had never tasted juice and had clearly never consumed one of these juice boxes was now grabbing at, and asking for, "juice." I remember her mom exclaiming, with more than a tad mirth in her voice, "you've never even had one of those!" It was quite the chuckle.

The next pair of folks to show up were a) adults and b) munchkin-less, so we figured they'd end up partaking in other beverages. One of them did, but the other one immediately grabbed a juice box. I couldn't help but laugh. He had reacted in roughly the same way I had, so he was also partaking in the juice box offering. I remember him saying something like, "I like juice boxes." Fortunately, we had more than enough to accommodate everyone, adult and munchkin alike. It was just funny to simultaneously watch a toddler asking for juice as a grown man happily sucked one down a few feet away.

Now, the Mild Wife and I intentionally abstained from the juice boxes during the night of the event, just in case it became a full-on fad and everyone decided they wanted one. However, we ended up having a few left-overs, and the Mild Wife and I sampled them a few days later. We weren't about to throw them out simply because they hadn't been consumed on the actual day of Friendsgiving, so they just sat in the fridge for a bit. When we noticed them again, we decided to give them a go.

You know what the Honest Kids juice boxes taste like? Watered down juice. They intentionally don't make them that sweet, so that the munchkins don't get hopped up on sugar. I know that by a different name: Baby Juice. Yup, that trick that I've seen parents employ for years got turned into a commercial product. I laughed and laughed when I realized that I wasn't only drinking a juice box, I was drinking baby juice.

You better believe that's not the last time we are going to buy those juice boxes.

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