Sweets for the sweet

We’re not much for lollies in our house. That’s not to say we don’t like them. I’m a regular lolly monster when it comes to gummy sweets, I used to devour whole bags at a time. But I was also well overweight and tired to boot. So I no longer buy them, and when I do they spend their existence in a dark cupboard out of reach where they slowly evaporate and my husband shrugs his shoulders in innocence, all the while looking shiftily from side to side.

I’d happily exist in a world where lollipops didn’t loiter at supermarket checkouts for little hands to grab, where k bars didn’t exist at all and grandmas never thought to have a jar of brightly coloured lollies in plain sight.

I believe children should have treats, but until my sons first lollipop he believed a treat was some cherry tomatoes from the supermarket or a homemade fruit smoothie icecream or even a cuddle. Then grandma happened and the first lollipop happened. Now we can’t walk past a convenient chupa chup dispenser at child height without some sort of negotiation process which usually ends in us leaving the supermarket. My son had his first dental appointment a few months ago and with that his first filling. To say I was annoyed might be understating it a little.

I love my mum in law, she is lovely, however, her view on sugar and treats for children differs wildly from mine. But she’s allowed, she’s the grandma. At least that is what my friends tell me. I could start a rant about my views on how grandparents have a ‘right’ to bypass your decisions on nutrition and rewards but there is very little point. At the end of the day I let it go because on my list of things to spend time worrying about this falls pretty low. Not because I don’t value my sons teeth but because I do value my sons relationship with his grandparents. Please don’t conflate the fact that I value their relationship with my approach to treats and love. It’s a bit more complex than that – but I ramble on.

The latest grandma treat came in the form of a bag of pebbles. I considered hiding them, possibly in my mouth, but that didn’t seem fair.

So we washed them instead.

What’s that you say?

Well it was a cunning trick to turn candy from a food into a game and it went something a little like this…