Holy tootsie roll, did I learn a valuable and very unfortunate lesson today at the expense of my son. He choked on a small piece of evilness, candy that is. This was all my fault, because I was threw a birthday party the day before. In my defense it was my first one. I was a little apprehensive with the candy I had, or should I say the amount of candy. I wrestled with the thought of having a birthday party without candy or juice boxes and was so afraid of being stoned by little children who had sucky goodie bags or a sugarless piñata, I caved and laced my party with candy. I did, at least nix the juice boxes and provided water and green smoothies.
My honey was quietly enjoying his goodie bag and toys, when next thing I know I hear a strange, quiet, yet alarming sound of struggle. My husband and I rushed towards him and slapped him on the back to make something move, as he had his hands around his precious neck. I screamed the entire time, which I think cause him to panic, and thankfully the adrenaline made him swallow what was lodged in his throat. All this happened because his Mother had candy at his party, smh.
Yes, life is short and candy is so yummy and makes everyone happy. Unfortunately, life can be a lot shorter when candy is involved. Knowing this, how could I (the veggie mama!!) give so much of this poison to precious children??!! I mean, aren’t cupcakes enough? I know, such a dramatic point of view over a simple lollipop, but my son choked a few hours ago! I should have listened to my intuition and skipped the candy (there was still cake).
This scary, traumatic, accident made my husband and I throw the candy in the trash as we cursed it’s existence. I then made a vow to be the boring, lame, Mom who did not provide candy at birthday parties. I proclaimed that from this day forward I would be the weird woman passing out toothbrushes, pencils and raisins on Halloween; paper valentines instead of chocolate kisses or sweethearts; cheap toys and coloring books at birthday celebrations. Yes, I scared myself straight today.
A fellow Mom and friend talked me off the ledge later today. She reminded me that all kid related events have candy, even candy buffet tables. Accidents happen, and candy is everywhere, but that doesn’t make it right. This pep talk made me feel better and stopped me from beating myself up. It didn’t, however, make me change my mind of being the crazy toothbrush lady. Tomorrow is a new day though, and I still have a stash of emergency chocolate for a rainy day. I just hope it doesn’t kill me.
There’s all sorts of sweet options and even organic, sugar-free, gluten-free, etc, etc options out there nowadays. You don’t need candy. Your fabulous cookies, cupcakes, and other sweets are “candy” enough. Better the children know all the other options out there to get there sweet fix–even trail mix will do. You keep being creative and inspiring. Piñatas don’t equal candy, they equal = FUN!! Leave the lazy goodies to the non-domestic divas! You keep inspiring people to do better, live better!! Muah!!
That’s right Saucy! Lesson learned to stay true to who you are no matter the situation, even when it comes to entertaining children. I struggle with that still to give my kids a “normal” childhood while still maintaining a green household. I learned that THIS IS NORMAL! and my kiddos love it 🙂 Thanks for the encouragement, love u