It's the Easter candy that takes center stage today. I am a peep fanatic. We call them chickamunks around here. When Hannah (oldest baby) was two, she discovered the joy of the peep. For some unknown reason, she called them chickamunks and that's what they've been called around here ever since!
Hannah shares my intense love for these gooey marshmallows pieces of heaven. Camden made it clear she did not. She didn't hate them, but she didn't love them. She ate one and put them away. Who eats just one!?! She is more interested in all things chocolate (that's my girl)! These poor neglected blue peeps (the blue is important because it's her favorite color) sat in a ziplock bag for two weeks while she ignored them and chose other pieces of candy. I was starting to feel panicky that these delicious bits of heaven were going to go stale. It makes my blood pressure shoot up just thinking about it. A stale peep is no peep at all. We cannot be friends if you think a stale peep is the only good kind of peep. Seriously, just walk away right now.
What was I to do? What would you do? Every time I ran a load of laundry, these delicious little sugar rushes were staring me in the face daring me to eat them. Yes, we keep our candy in the laundry room. So what? It's brilliant, really! Who likes to do laundry? I do! Every time I'm in there "doing laundry," I have a piece of candy. Win!
Back to the chickamunks. After two weeks, I just couldn't take it any more. She left for school, I threw clothes in the washing machine, and grabbed the bag as I walked by the candy bowl. I sat down on the table, debated putting them back and that's when I did it. I ripped open the bag and devoured them! Every delicious little peep. I mean, come on, she'd never even notice they were gone, right? I can confidently add this one to the list of Mommy wins! Child doesn't show much interest in peeps. I give her two weeks to change her mind. She still ignores them like the cold-hearted little 3-year-old that she is. I ate them. WIN!
End of story. Right? That's what I thought, too! But, like me, you are WRONG!
Fast forward another week. The girls had a good day at school and suckered me in to letting them pick "just one piece of candy. Please, Mom? We were such good girls!" Hannah immediately grabbed her bag of pink peeps and decided she would eat the last two in her bag. Camden, like any little sister, has to do everything her big sister does. With a smile on her face, she looked in the candy bowl. Her smile slowly faded as panic set in. She looked at me and wanted to know where her peeps went. I apologized a million times and told her that I ate them. You guys, I completely broke her heart. Huge sobs came up from deep within her belly and tears were pouring down her face. I did what any good mother would do and started laughing...hysterically...until tears were running down my face, as well. Way to go, Mom. I just couldn't help it. I collected myself, hugged her, and apologized again. It was at this point that a true act of motherly love happened. I offered to give her all of my peeps. EVERY ONE OF THEM. A tear of saddness may have run down my cheek at this point.
"But yours aren't blue! I don't like the yellow ones. I want my blue peeps!"
Cue hysterical crying and laughing...again. Guess which I was doing. I calmed her down by promising her three pieces of other candy instead of one. Bribery works every time!
Huge fail on assuming she wouldn't notice the peeps were gone. Big mistake laughing at her heartbreak (but, come on, you have to admit it's funny)! Win with the bribery making her smile.
Moral of the story, ask your kid before you eat their candy in secret assuming they will never even notice. THEY WILL NOTICE.
We too have a candy bowl in our house; it started when we were potty training Caden. Fast forward 1 1/2 fully potty trained yrs and we are still doling out candy. I say it is for him, but we all know the truth. Recently there was one piece of Halloween candy that looked like a coin. It was at the bottom of the bowl, half of the foil was peeled and the chocolate looked like it was...well, time to go in the trash. So I threw it away. OF COURSE, THAT DAY Caden decides to ask where it was. REALLY?! *sigh* Thankfully I was able to distract him and no true meltdown ensued. Love the tearful pic of Camden!
ReplyDeleteHa! Jerusha! They always know! =)
ReplyDeleteI have laughed at the kids in situations like this too! They were crying I just could not help myself and laughed...which made them cry more, their feeling hurt that I could laugh in such a serious moment of their lives! Priceless moments. I'm glad you are blogging so you will have details to all the fantastic moments of motherhood. Plus it keeps me attached to your family more than ever!
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