Candy Bites

“A longing fulfilled is sweet to the soul...” Proverbs 13:19

My kids love candy! They are related to me in this department, for sure. We very rarely buy candy, as it just seems to show up. We’re still eating some of the candy left over from Christmas. Before that it was Halloween, before that it was birthdays, parties, summer… This list goes on and on.

And here we are on Valentine’s Day Eve Eve, and I’ve already given the hub his stash of candy with his new sweater (we’re very romantic) so we could eat through his candy just in time for me to have my windfall of candy on Monday.

However, it occurred to me yesterday that I am a bit of a candy hypocrite.

I’ve told you all about Nanna before – great-grandma that practically raised me who died when I was 19. Well, one of the things Nanna used to do for me was always have a can of pop and a candy bar in the refrigerator waiting for my next visit. Usually it was Dr. Pepper and a Snickers, but she took special orders too. I went through a Skor phase, a Butterfinger phase, a Whatchamacallit phase. Rarely did I stray from the Dr. Pepper, but occasionally I would want an A&W root beer or a Coke.

And it didn’t matter if I visited EVERY SINGLE day! That can of pop and candy bar would magically replenish itself because Nanna only lived three blocks from the Star Cash Grocery. Sometimes, she’d even send me walking to the store to get my own snack. They also had penny and three-cent candy at the Star Cash and I would load up on those things too.

Well, the good news is that the metabolism has held and that I am not a diabetic, which she was, and I always suspected perhaps that she might have sneaked one or two of my candy bars when I didn’t visit for a day or so.

So, yesterday my 6YO asks me if when we go to the store, “Will you buy me a big Butterfinger?”

He’s asked about four times this month and each time I’ve replied with, “Not today.”

Last time I said it, he said, “Then when?”

And I said, “When you’re sixteen and have your own job, you can buy yourself all the candy bars you want.”

Terrible!

I know!

But yesterday I felt compelled to tell him the story of how Nanna always kept a candy bar and a can of pop in her refrigerator for me when I would come to visit. I told him of how when he has kids, I’m going to be their Nanna, and I want to be just like Nanna, and have candy bars and pop on hand for the grandkids.

Then I realized, Nanna would be giving him pop and candy bars every chance she got!

I also realized that I could buy him a candy bar EVERY SINGLE time we were at the store together, which really isn’t all that often, and he still would probably never consume as much candy as I did at the hand of Nanna,

...or for the three years I worked at a bank and consumed my weight in mini-candy bars every day,

...or for the three years of high school where lunch was pop and a candy bar every day.

And so, with a great big grin on his face, my 6YO son consumed his first full-size Butterfinger candy bar yesterday. He even forgave me for my candy hypocrisy, and saved me the last bite.

May all your days be sweet and may I never become diabetic. I probably wouldn’t last a week!

And yes, the picture above is how many caramel kisses I ate while writing this!

Don’t judge! We all have a vice.

“How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” Psalms 119:103