One of my favorite things about Halloween this year was watching Seth enjoy his candy. It brought back such fun memories! I loved seeing the excitement in his face and remembering just how that felt.
Matt and I were talking about how we remember that looking forward to Halloween as kids was more exciting than anything but Christmas. In the few days before, I could hardly stop thinking about it—always with total disbelief that something SO AWESOME as getting a HUGE PILE OF CANDY was really going to happen in a matter of days, one day, hours...!! A HUGE PILE OF CANDY!!! Can it be true? A HUGE PILE!!! OF CANDY!!!
And then the trick-or-treating would happen, and there it was. The huge pile. So fun and amazing and unbelievably incredible! I loved dumping out the pillowcase and seeing the spoils. :) Every year I meticulously sorted my candy, then counted it just for fun, then strategized how to eat it all. Plowing through that candy was just about the funnest five days of the year. :)
It was so fun to watch Seth open up his candy bag at home and light up over what he'd managed to bring home. You could see the wheels turning.... Which to eat first...? And after that...? He even had a really, really fun time offering candy to me and Matt—even things he likes. I think he felt rich enough to be a benefactor and it really excited him. So darling!
I had about half a moment where I thought, holy cow, he's going to fill up on candy before dinner. Maybe we should ration.... But it was immediately squashed by the memory of how fun it is to have one holiday a year where a HUGE PILE OF CANDY is yours, ALL YOURS!!! Why spoil the fun? Never! So lucky Seth gets to grow up without the memories of his parents sticking the halloween candy up in a cupboard and saying you get to pick two a day, or whatever. ;-) He gets to sort through it, eat it for breakfast, count it, give it away as presents.... Whatever he wants.... For a whopping three or four days out of the year. I love it. And we loved watching him love it. Too fun.
(Sidenote: To gorge or not to gorge? I think about this concept every time I get a big box of chocolates from someone. It's a lot better to just eat it all at once than spread it out! In my case, it's the calories I worry about. I trust my body to have no idea what to do with 8000 calories in 24 hours. Hahaha! But an extra 600 calories every day for two weeks...? Ouch! Trouble. With a kid—in addition to not wanting to spoil the fun—we'd still rather he gorge himself on candy for a couple of days than have candy every day for a month or whatever. Mucho mejor. What's the worst that can happen? A tummy ache? And then it stays totally novel and awesome, and unique to the holiday rather than turning into a little habit of getting candy after dinner every day.... Food for thought. Candy for thought! ;-))
(Another sidenote: I always wondered how the heck my meticulously-sorted candy disappeared faster than I expected. My mom fessed up just a few years ago.... Haha! While we were at school, she'd sneak some chocolates out of our stashes!! I have to admit.... I can see myself perhaps doing this to Seth someday.... Ha! Or maybe he'll keep wanting to give things away. Too bad he loves dark chocolate. ;-))
3 comments:
haha. As a kid, I tried as hard as I could to make the candy last forever. But I am sure dentists out there would approve of the gorging thing rather than having little bits of candy for ages. At least, I've had several tell me that many small meals in a day is harder for your teeth than three main meals, because your mouth never has time to normalize again. And thus I extrapolate. So there's another point for your case when you get those chocolates!
Ha! I think I remember trying (*trying*:)) to make it last, too.... I wonder how long it DID last...?
I totally sneak!! It's way too much for them to eat any way. But my Thea likes dark chocolate too, so boo hoo! We still have sooo much candy!!
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