The park was decorated like the board game Candy Land. There were volunteers walking around dressed as the characters King Candy, Queen Frostine, Princess Lolly and the evil Lord Licorice. It was nicely done.
There were different grassy areas that had various candy spread on the ground. There was Lollipop Woods with suckers, Peppermint Forrest with candy canes, and something with boxes of gum drops. There was tons of candy so we told the boys they could get one of each kind. While they were picking out what they wanted, one of the volunteers came over and told us it wasn't time to get candy yet because there was a hunt organized for later. So of course we had them put it back. As Timothy said at the time, it would have been nice if they had put a sign out or something.
There was a miniature train ride for the children. We got there just in time to see it fill up and told the boys we would have to wait for it to come back but it wouldn't be long because it was only a 5 to 10 minute ride. The train came back and the boys were off. So much fun!
While they were on the ride the organizers passed out plastic bags and someone blew a whistle and there was a mad scramble for all that candy. The train came back, the boys got off all smiles and I informed them it was finally time to get some candy. But when we got back everything was gone except for the lollipops! All those gumdrops and candy canes, seriously? I told the boys to each pick out one lollipop. Some teenagers had bags full of candy but others were kids whose parents were congratulating them on the huge amounts of candy they had!
Collin and Owen were crushed almost to the point of tears. They really wanted that Candy Land candy. The part that got me was that I know other people noticed because Collin was not quiet about it. "Why does he get a HUGE bag of candy and all I get is ONE SUCKER?" I almost went to ask one lady who was with 3 children if we might could have just one box of gumdrops from their pile, but I changed my mind because I know she saw my upset kids and didn't offer. I told the boys to go grab one more sucker because apparently safety suckers are lame and for babies and no one wants those. It was time to go.
This is not about candy. I could buy them candy. It's about parents not setting a good example for their kids. No one needs 30 boxes of gumdrops or 50 candy canes. And no, I'm not even kidding. I am at a loss as to how any parent would let their child bring home that amount of candy much less congratulate them on a job well done. What was I saying the other day about not judging people?
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