Over the river and through the woods...

A couple of years ago, while a friend was over at my parents’ house with me, he grabbed some candy out of one of our candy bowls. Yes, one of our candy bowls.

“I don’t know anyone else who has bowls of candy out at their house,” he said.

I was in shock. I would even go as far as saying I was flabbergasted. Yes, I was. Flabbergasted.

“What?!” I said. “I know lots of people that do.”

After some thought on the subject, I realized the list of people I knew that had bowls of candy at their house looked like this:

1. My grandma

2. My mom

3. My aunts

It honestly never occurred to me that this might not be the norm. I thought it was just something everyone did, but really, it’s just a result of my Grandma’s sweet tooth, which rivals just about anyone else’s in human history. Which apparently, is genetic.

Today, at the last minute, I hopped in my car and drove out to where my grandparents live, which is a little over an hour from me. I don’t get to see them nearly as much as I’d like. They are two of my favorite people in the world and whenever I go, I basically eat and laugh at their funny stories.

What’s better than eating and laughing? Nothing, except eating and laughing with my grandparents.

Here is what I found upon arrival at their house today (in addition to the photo at the top of this post):

I try to eat healthy, I really do.

Once I step into Grandma’s house though, my self control, my rules, my waistline, all of it goes flying out the window.

My grandpa picked up TWO boxes of See's Candies earlier in the week, each weighing more than a pound.

My grandpa told me, “I asked grandma if I could try one of hers” (this is her box):

“She said, ‘well, I’ll trade you.’”

This is my grandpa’s box:

Within two hours of being here, I’d eaten fresh tamales, peanut M & Ms, and one piece from each of their See's boxes.

But that’s the beauty of going to Grandma’s house.

The rules are different. My Grandma would be the first to tell you.

And Grandma's rules are the only rules I care about.

Especially this rule, expressed eloquently by my cousin last year when she was in fifth grade.

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