This morning as I was taking my five year old to school he asked if he had any Halloween candy left? Keep in mind, he hasn't seen the candy or asked about the candy since the day after Halloween, and for whatever reason he is now remembering that it existed.
I answered, "No, its gone."
And before I could say anything else, he exclaimed, "The ants must have come and taken it away. Ants like candy, right mom?"
Its amazing. I really must have drilled into his head that candy means a good old fashioned "California Ant Attack!" Growing up on the east coast, I remember an occasional black ant here or there, but never the masses of tiny brown ants that I have had the pleasure of greeting in Southern California. I was appalled the first time I saw an "ant attack." I was really freaked out at the lines of them marching through the outlets, across the floor and up the counter in my kitchen. I even found them in my laundry basket in the laundry room. I swear, they were ten thousand strong.
I then vowed I would make sure these attacks did not happen in my house anymore. I warned my kids to toss any birthday candy or Halloween candy. As my kids have been witness to some serious ant attacks and were not pleased, they have tried to live by the "no candy in the house rule or else, ant attack!"
Just recently a friend set me straight on that belief, "Its not really sugar or candy they want. Sure, when they arrive, they will find your sugar first, but its water they are after or in some cases they are not after anything. They just come in, but if your kids believe its sugar, more power to you!" And that's how I kept it as I responded to my son's question, "Ants love candy! Those darned ants! Marching in and taking your Halloween candy, what a shame!"
No comments:
Post a Comment