by Carie Moore
It's that time of year. Summer holiday celebrations and small-town festivals and fairs, which mean one thing – parades.
Parades bring big tractors, pooper scoopers, and candy. Lots of candy. My biggest enemy. Flavored fruities, suckers, gummies, and a countless smorgasbord of other assorted 'goodies' flung onto the street for hundreds of children to dash after. Usually these large bags just tend to disappear in our house. My kids can pick a few of their favorite candies and the rest goes into dad's tractor cooler to never be seen again.
I'm not opposed to candy, I just don't want large quantities of it lying around my house. Kids are sneaky. They sniff it out like a bloodhound on a trail.
Remove the candy, remove the temptation. Temptation to sneak it, to eat too much of it, or to make it a household regular. If it's there all the time, it no longer becomes a treat.
My kids love parades and celebrations and they look forward to them like all other kids. We've just always gotten the candy 'for daddy' since he usually isn't there, so there has never been a major struggle. They ask to eat the candy multiple times until we get home of course, but after its given to dad, they forget all about it. Thankfully.
One idea that has worked for us is to let the kids have small bags and when they're full they are done. We've also taken an extra bag and then found a large group or family to give them one of ours. We have even told those offering it, “Thank you, but we have enough.” This gives my kids the opportunity to know the difference between having enough and selfishness and to outwardly admit it with no qualms. It always seems they run out of candy by the end of the parade route, and I would rather see those kids at the end get some rather than all of it going to those of us closer to the beginning of the parade.
No matter how your family handles the candy conundrum of summer, enjoy the time with family and friends. Celebrate the fun things and remember good and bad habits start early.