Candy is for Kids

We live by the local high school and every year they do a Homecoming Parade down the street a few streets behind us. One of my former students was on the student council and told me about the parade. That year, my husband rushed my kids out to go see it, but they were already reaching the high school. 

Last year, I somehow did not have classes to teach that evening, so our whole family went out to sit by the street and watch the parade. The kids had so much fun. It's a good thing we brought our wagon because we had no idea the sheer amount of candy and goodies my children would be showered with.

This year, nobody informed me what date the parade would be. But it just so happened I was driving by the park where the parade begins and saw a giant trailer being decorated with glittering banners and footballs. My brain started churning, and I remembered the Homecoming parade. I did a quick search online and confirmed the high school Homecoming parade was that evening. I didn't get to go but my husband took the kids in our trusty little wagon.

You bet they returned home with a wagon full of goodies. 

This is a filing box filled with candy...probably 5-6 pounds.

No, I will not let them eat all of this candy. Some of it will be given away to my students. Some of it will be given away at our church fall festival. And the rest will probably end up as Halloween candy set outside our porch because I end up working on Halloween evening. They're lucky if they get 5-10 pieces of the haul 😂. To be fair, they get candy everyday after school from their teachers, so they're already averaging one piece a day.

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I used to be a sucker for candy. (pun intended.) One of the most comical memories of my childhood was opening the refrigerator as a young child of 4-5 and seeing a bag of Skittles in the snack drawer. You bet I pulled it out and wanted to open it immediately. My mother and I would drive to my brother's bus stop to pick him up after school. I had my skittles in a little plastic cup. I even remember them starting to melt together because of both the heat and my little-kid fingers reaching in and out every time I ate one. 

That evening, my dad returned home from work, and he excitedly told me, "I got a surprise for you!"

"She already found it and ate it all," was my mother's flat reply. I'm pretty sure my dad had a look of silly shock on his face, but maybe I'm just reconstructing this memory in my head. Either way, that definitely wasn't what he was expecting to hear.

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I ate one fun size bag of Skittles from the pile the other day. Although I enjoyed the sweet treat, it doesn't hit the same as it used to when I was younger. I will not be sad to see it all leave our house.