Friday, September 26, 2008

Jimmies or Sprinkles

Maxfield and I argued over the jimmies on his oatmeal. You may be asking yourself what are jimmies? And on oatmeal?

A while back, in an effort to get the kids to eat their oatmeal, Lauren started putting various things in the oatmeal. Besides some healthy stuff like ground flax seed she would also put in raisins or bananas or applesauce. One day she decided to top their oatmeal with some rainbow jimmies. She and the kids call them sprinkles. I call them jimmies.

Yesterday I made the kids their breakfast and I topped their oatmeal with rainbow non-pareils. There is a significant difference between the two. Jimmies are long and tubular and non-pareils are just dots. Of course Max noticed the difference.

"Dad, mommy puts sprinkles on the oatmeal."

"That's what I did."

"These are NOT sprinkles. I don't like this kind."

"Maxfield they are the same thing."

"No they are not."

"Yes they are."

"No they are not."

"Yes they are. They are both made of sugar. They are just different shapes."

"They are not the same."

Knowing that I could have a logical conversation with a four year old, I grabbed the container of the jimmies and threw some on top of his oatmeal.

"There." I said. "Is that better?"

His rolled his eyes and placed his spoon next to this bowl clearly as a sign he was not going to eat the oatmeal.

"What?" I asked."That's what you wanted. Now eat the oatmeal."

"But I wanted chocolate sprinkles." Max whined.

"We don't have chocolate, only rainbow sprinkles."

"These are not rainbow sprinkles." Max said as he picked through them.

"Yes they are."

"No they are not." Max said confidently. He picked up a brown colored sprinkle. "This is brown." He then picked up a white sprinkle. "This is white. Here is another brown one. Rainbows do not have the colors brown and white in them. These are not rainbow sprinkles."

A minute ago I questioned his logic, now I had to question mine.

What do you call them? Sprinkles or Jimmies?

36 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sprinkles. And maybe your response could be 'eat your oatmeal or now sprinkles on it from now on'. :)

Autumn said...

Sprinkles, sorry.

And once you mess up your 4 yr olds meal, dont you know you have to start over? lol

Anonymous said...

We have actually had this conversation in our house...it's Jimmies. And chocolate is the only way to go.

Anonymous said...

Sprinkles. Though I have taught my kids the word jimmies in case someone uses the wrong word while we are in the ice cream shop.

Anonymous said...

Jimmies and chocolate only. That's the Boston way.

Autumn said...

Sprinkles. Jimmies means testicles to me. This entire post is even more amusing that way.

Unknown said...

I used to call them Jimmies. Until I went to Chicago and ordered an ice cream cone with chocolate Jimmies on it. They looked at me like I was crazy, and kinda blushed and giggled. Then they told me...Jimmies mean condoms apparently.

Anonymous said...

My husband laughed at me for using jimmies and sprinkles interchangeably. He says jimmies are ONLY chocolate and sprinkles are rainbow and that using the color description in front of jimmies or sprinkles in redundant. I just let him order the ice cream now to avoid the confusion and his judging glares.

Bogart said...

Sprinkles...and your boy does have a point.

Sure, Rainbow can be a generic term for many colors, but he has a point.

G-Side Pride said...

jimmies

Dr Zibbs said...

Jimmi-sprinks

amelia said...

sprinkles.

Anonymous said...

Chocolate Jimmies, Rainbow Sprinkles.

Unless the place I'm ordering it has it written on the sign as something else.

Anonymous said...

In the Philly/NJ area, we call them Jimmies.

Anonymous said...

Its James not Jimmies

Anonymous said...

Wow, I'm not alone in the weirdness of life. I Googled Boogies expecting to find my own blog but got yours...Great Stuff!
And By the way my dad did the same kid of stuff.
check out myhumorouslife.blogspot.com
Steve Kline

JP said...

I was born and raised in Jersey, they are most definitely Jimmies

Anonymous said...

I say sprinkles, although I don't think either word does them justice. But only dorks say jimmies. I am basing that on the fact that you say jimmies, and it has already been established that you are a dork.

:)

Anonymous said...

Jimmies? That must be an east coast/midwest thing (like calling soda "pop") because I grew up in CA and always called them sprinkles (no matter what flavor, shape, or color--I'm equal opportunity like that)

Ali said...

Yep, I agree with mainline mom - jimmies are condoms. Rainbow sprinkles all the way.

Anonymous said...

I'm with Anon above (since I'm from CA too), I've never heard of Jimmies.

Sprinkles, no matter the color.

Anonymous said...

There's a big difference. Those non-pareil things are hard! Jimmies are soft! those non-pareil things get stuck in your teeth, jimmies do not! Non-pareil things have no taste, jimmies do! Wise up, Dad! there is a defference! Rainbow jimmies are not jimmies, jimmies are chocolate! Rainbows are faux! Love ya, momo9

CM said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Its jimmies. but i definitely think it is an east coast thing. my mom is from ca she calls them sprinkles. its like the difference between a cheese steak and a steak sandwich

Anonymous said...

*laughs* Awesome!

Sprinkles. Definitely.

And we do something similar but not with oatmeal. I make them crunchy pineapple (Pineapple tidbits with cornflakes and then the juice poured on top- no milk) and add toppings sometimes.

I've never even heard of Jimmies.

Practically Joe said...

Real men use "jimmies" ... sprinkles are for girls!
Try mixing peanut butter in your oatmeal ... as long as it won't kill you.

Unknown said...

I am a former fellow Pennsylvanian...I used to call them jimmies when I lived there. Now in AZ, everyone calls them sprinkles. I guess I have to adapt to my surroundings.

sari said...

We call them sprinkles, but I know they're jimmies (another California native checking in) and they do not taste at all the same as the little round dotty kind, so they really are not interchangeable.

Just so you know.

Kate Giovinco Photography said...

I call them both. I don't know why but we have always called them Jimmies or Sprinkles just depended on the mood.

Nil Zed said...

hundreds and thousands

(but, I'm in the UK)

SuburbanDaddy said...

We call them sprinkles and put them on lots of foods to get kids to eat them - yogurt, apple sauce, pancakes.

When I was a kid in Connecticut, some people actually called them shots.

Anonymous said...

I'm from Louisiana...I've never heard of Jimmies..only sprinkles. My in laws think I'm from outer space because of the things I've never heard of (like being "in a pickle" or going to the "submarine races". The crazy thing is my in laws are from Louisiana, too!

Love your blog.

Melanie said...

I wonder if Jimmies is a northern thing because I've never heard of that. We say sprlinkles. your post cracked me up because this sounds like a convo that I would have with my almost 4 year old. I'm glad I'm not the only one!

Anonymous said...

Well I grew up in Pennsylvania and they were called jimmies and you specified rainbow or chocolate. I moved to Arizona when I was 14 and here they look at you like you're crazy when you say jimmies, so I've gotten used to saying sprinkles. I DO agree with the child however... the chocolate ones in the rainbow sprinkles containers screw up the whole thing! I am currently searching for somewhere to find rainbow ones without the chocolate ones mixed in, without buying them off the internet because everyone is charging an arm and a leg for shipping. ALSO, most grocery store brand ones are TOO CRUNCHY! I had my husband buy me an ice cream maker for xmas, so I could make my own and finally put on enough sprinkles but now I have to find them. (and YES I have too much time on my hands!) :(

Anonymous said...

Oh, and the nonpareils are SOOOO not the same thing!

Anonymous said...

I am from NYC,went to school in South Jersey,and now live in Philadelphia--I call em Jimmies no matter what color they are.