Candy! Candy! Candy!

Candy in our house lasts a pretty long time...well at least the boys' candy. My stash of candy is depleted pretty quickly. However, I am not very generous when it comes to letting my boys have candy whenever they want. Halloween candy lasts until Easter...Easter Candy lasts until the fourth of July....Fourth of July candy lasts until Halloween etc. Our chocolate Easter bunnies take months and months to finish. My boys are excited if they get 2 M&Ms. Now don't mix me up with a mom who doesn't allow candy in their life. Because my boys love and have experienced a lot of candy...they just don't have free access and they appreciate each piece that finds itself in the palm of their hand.

This year up north we had a rainy morning so I packed them up in the van and we ventured to the nearby tourist town. We wandered the streets in search of the candy store that I have visited for the last 30 + years during my weeks up there. The boys knew that was our destination and they haven't really experienced shopping in a candy store.

The excitement was overwhelming, Aunt Raina can testify, that the phrase, "MAMA! Look at this!" was shouted over and over from both boys. At times they didn't even know what they wanted to show me but they knew there was plenty for me to see.

Each boy got to pick a selection of candy from the bulk candy tubs...things like jelly beans, candy hearts, candy corn, jelly candies, etc. were selected and shovelled into their very own bags.

Upon exiting the store they were each allowed to pick two pieces to nibble while we walked...amazing to me that they were content with two little candy corns or whatever they picked. But silently I was cheering inside.

The next day we headed home from our up north vacation, which is a 5 hour drive. At one point in the drive I handed back their bags of candy and said, "Have some, but don't eat it all!" I looked in the rear view mirror to see them shovelling it in, and quickly told them to slow down, one at a time. But within moments they were handing the bags back up to me. I guess the "candy ways" in our house have taught them to appreciate and not rush the enjoyment of their candy or at least portion control is mastered.