Jiffy pop

Although Susan’s nearly five months along, she’s not quite showing yet. She can see it. I can see it, but others tell her she hasn’t “popped” yet. Perhaps she hasn’t, but I get a funny picture in my head when it’s mentioned. I get the image of Jiffy Pop. Remember that? The stovetop popcorn treat? Do they still make it?

All I remember as a kid was that it was a neat thing to do before watching a movie on TV (before VCRs were in every household — remember VCRs?). When I was little, usually the Sound of Music or Wizard of Oz would be coming on and we would cook up some Jiffy Pop to each while we watched. But it seemed like that stuff took forever even though it was faster and easier than popping in a real pan. We would put the foil pan on the burner and move it back and forth for what seemed like an eternity (and I bet it’s worse now thanks to microwave popcorn). Then suddenly there would be some popping noises even though you couldn’t see any changes in the pan’s shape right away. Ironically, Susan describes the feeling of the baby moving like popcorn popping.

So, I guess we are at that point where the kernels are popping but we don’t really notice a change. That’s good, because if memory serves, the top of the Jiffy Pop pan would start to expand pretty quickly until it made a neat silvery foil dome filled with popcorn. Of course, I always managed to over cook it and burn a few kernels, so it wasn’t perfect. But I wonder if the childish excitement I had over poking into that steaming dome will be anything like what I expect to experience in the delivery room. Only time will tell!