We try not to eat too much candy around here, but we certainly have some in the house. I don’t think it pays off to not let kids have any candy. I believe that only makes them want it more. We’ve always kept our candy in a cabinet just over our kitchen counter.
(This is all basic foreshadowing. I’m talking about candy and kids. Any idea what happens next?)
Cooper is doing a lot better about playing on his own for a little while, so every day at some point, I let him stay downstairs for a short while and I go upstairs to check my email or something. It gives him a little freedom and it gives me a mini break. After one such break, I ran downstairs and noticed the candy cabinet was open. Hmmmm….I didn’t remember leaving it open, but I naively still didn’t suspect anything at that point. Until I came into the living room and saw Cooper wandering around with a half eaten sucker in his hand. And a bunch of chocolate wrappers on the floor.
Cooper is doing a lot better about playing on his own for a little while, so every day at some point, I let him stay downstairs for a short while and I go upstairs to check my email or something. It gives him a little freedom and it gives me a mini break. After one such break, I ran downstairs and noticed the candy cabinet was open. Hmmmm….I didn’t remember leaving it open, but I naively still didn’t suspect anything at that point. Until I came into the living room and saw Cooper wandering around with a half eaten sucker in his hand. And a bunch of chocolate wrappers on the floor.
“Hey, Cooper…can you show Mommy where you got that candy?”
He led me straight to the cabinet and pointed right to it.
He was so proud.
His eyes were absolutely sparkling.
Secretly I was really proud of him for thinking through all of that, climbing up there and getting his sweet treat. I didn’t want to make it a big deal, so I just told him that while it was neat that he was big enough to get the candy himself that he needed to ask us before getting into the cabinet.
Nothing happened until about three weeks later when I came downstairs only to find him sitting on the counter, chocolate wrappers strewn about, with a piece of candy in each hand. And, people, he looked darling. I told him to stay right where he was as I reached for the camera and snapped a shot. (Scott later questioned me about this and wondered if maybe that was just reinforcing Cooper. My response? “Of course it was reinforcing him! Of course it was the wrong thing, but he looked so cute I had to take his picture first!”) So we had another little chat about the candy, and so far he’s left it alone.
Secretly I was really proud of him for thinking through all of that, climbing up there and getting his sweet treat. I didn’t want to make it a big deal, so I just told him that while it was neat that he was big enough to get the candy himself that he needed to ask us before getting into the cabinet.Nothing happened until about three weeks later when I came downstairs only to find him sitting on the counter, chocolate wrappers strewn about, with a piece of candy in each hand. And, people, he looked darling. I told him to stay right where he was as I reached for the camera and snapped a shot. (Scott later questioned me about this and wondered if maybe that was just reinforcing Cooper. My response? “Of course it was reinforcing him! Of course it was the wrong thing, but he looked so cute I had to take his picture first!”) So we had another little chat about the candy, and so far he’s left it alone.
The funniest thing was that later I was looking for something behind the couch. As I leaned down, I noticed little silvery Hershey’s Kiss wrappers littering the space between the wall and the couch. Apparently, when I had caught Cooper up on that counter, he had been going back for seconds and had already enjoyed a helping of chocolate in his little hiding place behind the couch!
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