Recently it dawned on me that we had an enormous amount of candy in our house. An entire drawer in our kitchen was bursting with it and it just seemed to keep multiplying. Halloween, Christmas, Valentine's Day, Easter, etc... They get it from school and church and SuperCuts and from the man at the convenient store just for looking so darn cute. Candy was coming out of our ears and, because I only allow them to have one piece per day, there was no way they could have ever eaten it all.
It was beginning to drive me nuts. Not just the fact that we had it, which was troublesome enough, but also my son's obsession over it.
I thought about throwing it away one night after they went to bed, but I knew what type of response would greet me the next morning. I'm brave, but not that brave.
One time I went through our overflowing candy bowl and just threw away all the peppermints to make more space. Peppermints. I mean, what kid really loves peppermints? Well, as soon as I threw them away there was great wailing and nashing of teeth because, wouldn't you know, peppermints had suddenly become Caedmon's favorite candy.
So in efforts to avoid World War III, I had to come up with a win-win solution. It dawned on me one night as I was laying in bed. I thought to myself, "The only thing that Caedmon loves more than candy is money. I could pay him for his candy!" (Now do you see why I'm a little embarrassed by this post?)
Caedmon and Sammy are trying to save money to buy themselves a season pass to Great America. But at 10 cents per chore, they're not getting very far very fast. So I thought this would be a great way to boost their bank.
Caedmon was conflicted when I told him about the idea. I could see the wheels turning in his little head, weighing out the pros and cons of this life-altering proposition. But, alas, he agreed to my plan when I told him that he and Sammy could both pick out 25 pieces of their favorite candy.
So later that morning we dumped our candy stash on the kitchen table and started counting. They first picked out their 25 pieces...major decisions, People. Once that was behind them, we started trading candy for dimes. Put one piece of candy in the trash; put one dime in the bank. (Small candies like M&M or jelly beans were worth 5 for 10 cents.)
So that, my friends, is how I ended up paying $41.30 on candy that was probably worth a grand total of about $8. How embarrassing is it that we had over 400 pieces of candy stuffed in a drawer?!?! Well, it's gone now, except for their small coveted stash that they are savoring. My plan is to refill that drawer with some healthier treats (not like carrot sticks...think fruit leather or granola bars or dried mango) and ward off candy like the plague. We'll see how long I can keep the dogs at bay!
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