Gumballs

It's the middle of March already?! No kidding. Huh. How about that.

We are quickly approaching Drew's fourth birthday. He continues to be the epitome of cuteness. Even his most annoying quirks are adorable...

At our extended Keener family Christmas celebration this year, Ben and Drew each got a plastic gumball machine, each in the shape of a ball - Ben's is in the shape of a football and Drew's is in the shape of a basketball. Of course these machines each came with a small bag of gum balls.

Back up a bit. I grew up in a house where I was allowed to chew gum but ONLY if it was sugar-free. And my mom was quite strict about this, which was part of the reason why I didn't have a single cavity until I was 18 (left to my own devices, I ventured out into the world of gum WITH sugar - gasp - and sure enough, along came the cavities).

So there I was, on Aunt Valerie's family room floor with wrapping paper strewn about and both of my boys exclaiming, "Yesss!! Cool! Gum ball machines!!" Bet you can't guess the next thing out of their mouths..."Can we have one?!" Oh, boy. Knowing full well that my dental hygiene reasoning would not fly with these guys, I agreed. This was my first mistake.

So home we went with not one, but two new gum ball machines. The boys displayed them prominently on what we call the "low counter" in our kitchen - a location within eyesight AND easy reach. Second mistake.

As with any new toy, the gum ball machines were quite popular for several days. I had to become somewhat of an overbearing "let me see how well you brushed your teeth" mother, but they seemed to be enjoying their little bursts of sugar, so I did my best to cope.

My third mistake came when the little sample bags of gum balls ran out. A wise mother would have taken the plastic gum ball machines off the counter, hidden them in some dark corner of the basement or attic and been done with it. But not me. I'm not sure if this makes me an unwise mother, but it certainly doesn't make me the brightest bulb on the tree. At my next trip to Giant, I bought more gum balls. Now come on people, how enabling was this?!?! I just bought MORE of the very thing that made me cringe when my children opened them at Christmas. And I really had no idea what I was in for with Drew.

Drew likes the gum balls. No, no, that's the understatement of the century. The child is OBSESSED with the gum balls. Picture this...it's 7:00 am, everyone has rolled out of bed and is downstairs for the potty & breakfast routine. Typically, we are full of "good morning!" and "did you sleep good?" (Yes, I know it should be 'Did you sleep well?' but somehow I can't bring myself to ask my three-year-old such a grammatically sound, completely un-cute question.) But for Drew it has become this: run downstairs, go potty as quickly as possible and IMMEDIATLY ask "Can I have a gum ball?" This is before any talk of breakfast has commenced. This is usually even before we actually SEE him because he is such a blur on the way to the bathroom. We say no, of course, so he asks again after breakfast. "Can I have a gum ball? I haven't had one yet today." For a while I had a rule that gum balls could not be consumed before lunch. But I gave up on that a few weeks ago. The poor kid just seems happier with a gum ball in his mouth. But of course the stupid little gum ball machine never puts out just one gum ball. Oh no. Out comes at least two, EVERY TIME!! So next thing I know, my adorable little Drew is standing next to me with his little hand reaching up toward me saying "You get the purple one, Mom!" This kid may stink at sharing every single toy in the toy room, but he can share gum balls like nobody's business. Needless to say, I've been brushing a little harder these days. Although I kind of have a one-gum-ball-per-day limit for my own personal consumption, Drew does not. Nope, he'll chew four or five throughout the day, no problem! Now before you shake your head at me and think I'm a terrible mother for letting my child have such sweet treats, let me assure you that this child is not suffering from an overdose of sugar. The kid eats carrots and string beans and peas and apples and oranges and bananas like they're going out of style. So i figure a few bursts of sugar a day isn't going to cause permanent damage. And it's so stinking cute to hear him say "Can I have a gum ball?" and then exclaim "Yeesssssss!" when I tell him he may.

Like I mentioned before, he doesn't get one out of the machine at a time, but because I can't handle more than one a day, I start "saving" the ones he brings me later in the day. For some reason, the keyboard at my computer has become the holding area for mommy's gum balls. At any given time I could have four or five gum balls sitting on my keyboard, sometimes more if Ben is feeling generous with his gum balls as well. My keyboard often looks like a beautiful little rainbow of gum balls.

Honestly, as far as the gum balls go, I could take them or leave them. But man oh man, do I love my kids. Gum ball obsessions and all.