Sushi For Boys

Most boys are, whether it be by genetics or social conditioning, adventurous. Tell them they are about to embark on an exploration and they are on board. Tell them they are off on a mysterious journey and they are all in. Tell them they are needed for an uncommon challenge or experiment, and they are at your side before you get all of the words out of your mouth.

Living in a house of boys, I know this about them and can, at times and please don't hold this against me, use this to my advantage. So when we drew snack duty for the Cub Scout meeting on April Fool's Day, I saw the perfect opportunity to have a little fun with a group of boys. This is a group of boys that enjoy each other's company so much, and enjoy being boys together so much, that our Cub Scout meetings revolve around which tasks in the Wolf book include running, jumping, or exercising. Anything to avoid sitting for more than 10 minutes.

So when it came time for snacks, I asked, "You boys like adventure, right? You all like to try new things, right? Well tonight we are going to try sushi."

"And what is sushi?" asked the Den Leader who was in on the joke.

"Sushi is raw fish, rice and seaweed."

I almost lost a couple of them right there. One boy's mouth fell open and I believe he almost puked. I said, "Who likes Chinese food? So you should like the rice. Who likes fish or seafood? So the fish in the sushi will be good, it's just not cooked. Who likes vegetables? Who likes salad? That's really all seaweed is."

The Den Leader said, "You don't have to like it, but everyone has to try one bite."

I put my sushi on the table in the middle of the boys, and it took them a few minutes to figure out that my "sushi" was rice cereal treats wrapped in fruit roll-ups with a gummy worm inside. I got the idea here, and it was big success.

Unfortunately, I talked up real sushi so much my son Jack was really excited about trying it. He thinks he will really like it, and I agree that there are some rolls he will probably really enjoy. He won't quit talking about how he can't wait to eat sushi. Do you know how expensive sushi is? I guess the April Fool's joke is on me.