CURLY AND CANDID

What do you think will make my children do anything? I mean anything from tidying rooms to doing homework to being silent for a (limited) period of time. Is it screen time? What about pocket money? Do I need to employ The Mum Look? No, I need to dangle the promise of pizza in front of their eyes. We’ve tried many pizza places and restaurants with varying success and next up on our hit list is Papa John’s.

I hadn’t realised until very recently that there was a Papa John’s in Harrogate. In fact, they are all over the place. None of us has ever been, though I’m reliably informed by a friend that it will make all of the other pizzerias pale into insignificance. Now that I know that there is a branch not too far away I’ve been doing my research.

Where Does Papa John’s Come From?

Papa John’s pizza restaurant is a franchise business and was founded in the US. Their headquarters are in Kentucky and according to the internet (what would we do without it?), it is the fourth biggest pizza delivery chain in the whole of the USA. The USA is vast, which makes that a heck of an area and customer base to cover.

What Do They Offer

Let’s face it. There are a lot of pizza shops around. There are cafe’s and restaurants who offer pizza and on top of that, there are hundreds of cook at home options. Why do I think that Papa John’s, therefore, would be a good fit for my family?

From a world of mouth perspective, I’m hearing great things. Really great things! I’m hearing about fresh ingredients, allergies and intolerances catered for, fab staff and clean premises. That’s a darn good start for me.

The Menu

If you pop onto the website and put in your postcode you are directed to your local Papa John’s. We’re planning a day out in Knaresborough soon so nipping into Harrogate which is our nearest one won’t be a hardship. Menus are fairly general in terms of what you can order but I imagine some things might be specific to the place you visit or the place you order from for delivery. The menu items look awesome. There isn’t a children’s menu but there are small pizzas (9.5”) and sides so we could easily customise that to suit our two. To be fair they would probably choose something from the adult menu (hollow legs, I feel a growth spurt coming on).

I’m a bit of an awkward so and so when it comes food. I’m diabetic and dairy free which makes carb-heavy meals and cheese a no go. That’s a pain for someone who loves pizza. Thankfully the vegan menu is pretty good and includes the vegan Sheese® which means that I can have pizza (I don’t have to eat a massive one!), sides (this pleases me) and a pud! There’s a good range of drinks for us all to enjoy so as far as I’m concerned it’s a winner.

What About You?

We are definitely big food fans! What about you? Have you been to a Papa John’s? Are there any special items I should know about? The meal deals look good so I’ll definitely be looking at those. My last question, and it’s an important one. What is your favourite pizza? Mine is ham and pineapple, just so you know.

Gift giving is very much on my mind at the moment. It’s Father’s Day next weekend and our eldest turns thirteen in July. The options for gifts these days is phenomenal. It’s no longer a case of popping to the shop There are online shops, sure but it’s more than that. Nowadays people give vouchers and giftcards, kids ask for points or whatever they want for their latest digital game and I sometimes we’ve become a little disconnected from the art and joy of gift giving.

The sheer joy of unwrapping a beautifully packaged box complete with gift tag and bow has faded away as people have become more enamoured with their smartphones, laptops and tablet screens. This is not something we can say happens only with the younger generation either. Us grown-ups are just as bad. We all get a warm feeling in the pit of our bellies when we remember unwrapping our first bicycle or the teddy bear we ached for. We need to try and inject some of that joy and enthusiasm into the youth of today. It doesn’t have to mean moving away from less traditional gift giving but it won’t hurt to mix things up a bit. Take a look at how you can put the nostalgia back into gift giving.

Traditional Toys

We are an incredibly geeky family, being Dungeons and Dragons players and so on. We love our board games as not only they get you thinking, they are great for encouraging quality family time. Although they might not say it, your offspring love nothing more than spending time with their parents. Whether it’s heading outdoors for a picnic, venturing off on a holiday or simply spending some time together playing games, kids adore being with their parents. They’d never admit it but we know even our Kevin and Perry teens like us (most of the time).

For gift giving you could choose a traditional board game to prompt some quality family time or more modern alternatives. Alternatively, you could choose to explore the world of ravensburger jigsaws. These incredible puzzles are real brain teasers with some jigsaws going up to forty thousand pieces. I have to admit that I am terrible at jigsaws but perhaps a family one would be a good idea?

Experiential Gift Giving

Sometimes a physical gift just won’t cut it. That doesn’t mean you have to retreat to money or the online world yet again. Instead, look at experiential gifts. These can result in the most wonderful days that lend themselves to quality family time and memory making moments. If you have a son or daughter who adores animals, why not purchase a zookeeper experience for them. A friend of ours did this with his new wife for their honeymoon and loved it. They could end up spending the day feeding the penguins or playing with meerkats. If your children (or big kid) is a mini adrenaline junkie, you could look into go karting, a rock climbing experience or a white water rapid ride. These experiences are out of the ordinary and unusual. They are special and are the perfect way to give a bespoke gift to someone that you love.

Parties

We are those parents who don’ do birthday parties. If we did though we would sit down with the children and let them know what our budget is (not actual pounds and pence, more managing expectations) and use this to let them choose what we’d do (within reason). We might choose bowling, go swimming or venture to a park and have a birthday barbecue. I’d probably choose some fun and quirky goody bag gifts even if we didn’t opt for a traditional party.

Retro Gift Giving

The concept of all things retro and vintage is on trend at the moment. As we accelerate forwards with our technological advancements, we yearn for the more familiar, more straightforward entertainment options. We’re introducing the kids to some of our old video game consoles. A SNES with a 2D platform game like Mario or Donkey Kong could be ideal if you want to show your kids just how good you were in the arcade back in the day. Perhaps you were more into the Sega games. Sonic and Zelda could be played on the Mega Drive or the handheld Gamegear. I was overjoyed to see that the Commodore 64 was coming back. I want to see how they react to having to wait for the games to load up.

Gift Giving: In Summary

I’m definitely going to be adding the nostalgia factor into my gift giving from now on, alongside the more modern bits and pieces. This is for children and the grown-ups! What about you? What’s the best gift related memory you have from when you were younger?

Papa John’s Pizza Virgins