Candy Land

I've been on a three-day-long sugar high, and it's fantastic.  Well, up until the point when I feel sick, but I tend to cure that with magic jelly beans.  Yes, this is a very sweet time for a stay-at-home dad like myself, with candy within arms' reach from any spot in our apartment (we might have overdone it this Easter).  I tend to eat a ton of it as a relief whenever Kyle goes bezerk, and he's been hyper a lot these past few days.  The funny thing is, he really hasn't eaten a whole lot of candy, especially when you compare it to all that I've had.  That's as far as I know.  Maybe he has a secret stash somewhere, or maybe he's just breathing it in through the air.  Is there such a thing as second-hand sweets?  The Surgeon General probably should look into that.

Wow, has it been great.  Jelly beans before lunch.  M&M's after lunch.  Peeps at snacktime.  Dinner with a salad and a Cadbury egg.  A chocolate bunny before bedtime.  Some people say having a child allows you to relive your youth.  Usually that means through your child, but I find it better at times to just do the same thing your child is doing, especially when it comes to candy.  If Kyle's going to have a basket of candy, I should have one, too.  If Kyle is going to be hyper, I should be hyper, too.  Kyle doesn't eat as much candy as I do because he doesn't have to: give him a few M&M's and he's running around in circles, burning holes in our rugs.  Too bad Easter came after last week's Boston Marathon.  I bet Kyle could have won it with just a couple of chocolate bunny ears.

Besides the obvious candy perk, this Easter Sunday was a lot of fun.  This year I felt like Kyle was starting to get the Easter tradition.  Not the whole resurrection from the dead/salvation bit, but the part about the crazy bunny that dumps goodies in our home.  The night before, we had him leave a carrot for the Easter Bunny (which was the ritual in my family), and he seemed to enjoy doing that.  The next morning, he slowly walked into the room, with his eyes at the spot where he had placed the carrot.  There was a basket!  With candy!  And cookies!  His eyes widened, and he gave a big, open-mouth smile.  This was almost as exciting as discovering that the chapters in one of my Kurt Vonnegut books are marked with big numbers.  My son appreciates the simple pleasures in life.

I love being a dad at times like these.  You can actually feel your child's joy.  It was so much fun watching Kyle's face light up as he dug through his goodies, discovering M&M's and Oreo cookies.  I loved watching him try a Starburst jelly bean and not like it because it's too tart (more jelly beans for Daddy, then - a main cause of my sugar high).  The Easter Bunny also left a couple of gifts - two Berenstain Bears books - and I enjoyed seeing him unwrap those.  Two years ago, Kyle didn't seem to understand what was going on.  Last year he was possessed by "terrible two" demons, so we didn't have much fun.  This year, he was completely into it, and he made me feel like a kid again.  So, yes, I did relive my youth through him on Sunday.  I know doing that sort of thing won't always be fun (especially when Kyle's in middle school), but I'll take a moment like this one a million times over.  Especially if that means there will be more candy.

Our new Berenstain Bears books are titled "New Baby" and "Too Much Junk Food."  The Easter Bunny thought they might help the little guy during the next eight weeks.  The latter book is a joke (the Easter Bunny doesn't believe there's such a thing as too much junk food), but it's probably a good thing that Kyle's been having me read it over and over.  The way the candy's been flowing into my mouth, I need something to remind myself to take it easy.  I'm just glad I don't have to see the dentist until August.