Recently my husband and I babysat the grandkids for a couple of days to include spending the night at their house. We hadn’t done so in a while so it was eye opening to witness how much they’d changed.
Some of their newly acquired behavior was quite endearing. Although at times not using their ‘inside voice’ was a little hard on the hearing! Since our visit was shortly after Halloween there was candy aplenty to assist in their energy level. Funny thing about their daily candy allotment: the rule was they could have 2 pieces after breakfast, 2 pieces mid-morning for a snack, 2 pieces after lunch, 2 more mid-afternoon and 2 more after dinner…at least that’s what I understood. (Experience has taught me that they tend to eat lunch all day after breakfast until it’s time for dinner ~ if ya know what I mean.)
This made for tracking their sugar consumption somewhat of a challenge. Being a dutiful grandmother I tried to follow these directions with only a few miscues. This was, of course, to my own detriment as their liveliness took a sharp upward trend.
I’d taken a crock pot full of a stew that they’d gobbled up in the past. OMG, you would have thought I was asking them to eat dog food! Up turned their noses while squirming in their chairs. However they had no difficulty scarfing down the cheese bread (less the crust of course). Back to the candy…the only merit it had was as a bribe. “If you eat just 2 more bites of the stew I’ll let you have 1 more piece of candy.” (My bad but it worked.)
Each kidlet had his/her own sizeable bag of goodies located in a cabinet high above the sink. And each kidlet would drag a step stool over to the counter, climb up and stand on the counter, open the cabinet and get their bag down. Most often they would array the entire contents on the floor before making their selection. I didn’t comprehend the reason for putting the candy so far up when it appeared to be no trick at all to treat themselves. I wasn’t keen on this retrieval process but they assured me it was okay.
So after a day’s worth of candy consumption a walk around the neighborhood seemed to be in order. Jaci, the 9 year old, anxious to demonstrate her prowess on her bike, donned her pink helmet and peddled circles around us. “Gabby” (age 7 and as I’ve mentioned before the name suits her well) skipped, jumped, ran, sprinted and scampered all the way. Never walked once. And Ryker Roo (who recently turned 4 and is all boy) kicked every acorn, pine needle and leaf from the curb into the street. I noticed him scratching at his bottom and wondered if a bug or spider or something had found its way under his briefs. And then I remembered…Ryker has a penchant for pocketing prize possessions in his pants. Could it be it was my bribe ~ and that’s where the extra piece of candy went?
Some rounds of UNO and reading from a few books went a long way to entertain. However, kids these days would prefer to binge on children’s shows and movies rather than to sit and play games. I don’t know how many times they’ve watched “Frozen” but they were up for it again! I’d already seen it once so I excused myself to pursue what the kitchen had to offer.
Since peanut allergies are of great concern all of the treats they were handed that contained any nuts were put in a special bowl. They were very aware and self-disciplined when it came down to steering clear of this container. It sat on the kitchen counter in plain sight. Yep, there it was beckoning to me…a treasure trove of miniature chocolate bars that weren’t nut free! For their own well-being, my husband and I decided we should remove any and all temptation from the children. So we managed to devour the entire stash while we were there! It was glorious! I can’t remember the last time I had a Baby Ruth but I did recall them getting stuck in every tooth! Each time it was the kid’s turn to have treats we did our due diligence with what they couldn’t eat. We also consumed sweets filled with nuts while they fixated on their favorite shows. And if outside a while to play we took that time to have our way. Once they’d gone to bed there was no stopping us! I shuddered (with good reason) at the thought of getting on the scale at home. And besides I know all that candy can’t be good for your heart.
Speaking of hearts, my grandkids positively have mine tied up in a big bow.
I’m certainly nuts about them and they’re sweeter than any candy you’d find in any store!
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