Candy Corn Obsession

My daughter has a problem.

 I guess it's more of an obsession, really.  She's obsessed with....(wait for it)...candy corn.  I began to realize the symptoms of her problem when I literally jumped out of the bed at 5:42am this morning.  See, I have had a cold the past couple of days so I had taken Nyquil before I went to bed.  I normally sleep pretty hard, but the Nyquil took it to a different level.  Because I was sleeping so hard, when I heard Ella yelling "Mama!" at the top of her lungs, I didn't think...I just jumped out of the bed and ran into the kids' room.  After I stood there for a minute, staring at Ella, who was staring back at me, my brain woke up a little and I realized I was out of the bed for a reason and I should probably find out why. 

Me: "What's the matter?"

Ella: (awake, but her brain must've been in a similar condition):  "fdsjklfsdfhcueiowrycbnjo"

Me:  "Huh?"  (Did I really just jump out of the bed and risk my life running in here, while my eyes were
         probably still closed and my brain wasn't functioning, for no good reason?)  

(no response)

Me: "Ella! What.  Do.  You.  Want?"

Ella:  "Candy Corn"

Me:  "WHAT?"

Ella:  "I want candy corn."

Me:  (Is she serious?  Is she awake?  What is wrong with my child??)
Me:  "No, Ella, you cannot have candy corn.  Go back to sleep."

Ella:  (begins to cry and scream because she wants candy corn...which is what everyone wants at 5:42 in the morning, right?)

She finally goes back to sleep with dreams of candy corn dancing in her head.  It was no surprise that when she woke up (at a reasonable time) she wanted candy corn.  I didn't give her any of course.  What kind of mother would I be to give my child candy corn in the morning?          Ok, I gave her a few.
                  
                                       FAST FORWARD 12 HOURS.........

I am driving home with the kids in the back, and like a good mom, and I trying to have a conversation with the kids (ok, just Ella, since Noah doesn't really do conversations yet.) 

Me:  "What did you do today?"

Ella:  "Nothing"

Me:  "Did you play with anyone?"

Ella:  (no response)

Me:  "Did you make something pretty today?"

Ella:  (no response)

Me:  "Ella"

Ella:  "I want candy corn."

Me:  (I'm thinking we have a real problem here, and wondering how much candy corn counseling is going to
        cost.  Do you pay a copay for that?)
Me:  "After you eat your dinner you can have some candy corn."

Ella:  "I don't wanna eat dinner. I want candy corn."

Me:  "Well, if you want candy corn you have to eat your dinner first.  Now tell me about your day.  Did you 
          get to play with any of your friends?"

Ella:  (no response)

I decided to abandon this one-sided conversation that got hijacked by candy corn and I spent the next 5 minutes wrapped up in my own thoughts about dinner and my to-do list when we got home.

Ella:  "Can I have candy corn on a plate?"

Me:  "On a plate?"  (Yep, definitely need to get her an appointment.) 


Me:  (I decided maybe I shouldn't fight it, and just go with it.  If you can't beat 'em, you 're supposed to join 'em right?) "What about in a bowl?"

Ella:  (giggling) "Yeah, in a bowl."

Me:  "How much do you like candy corn? A little or a lot?"

Ella:  (thinks for a minute)  "It's A LOT good."

I don't know where she got this addiction from, but she's hooked.  She's right too though, you know.  Candy corn is A LOT good.  She figured it out because at some point, still not sure when, she gave candy corn a try and realized all the sweet goodness she had been missing.  Evidently it was so good that she is  dreaming about it at night and woke up wanting more. 

God is like that you know...Psalm 34:8 says, "Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him."  When you get that first taste of God and all the peace, forgiveness, mercy, grace, power, love, faithfulness (I could go on for a while) comes flooding in, it's all you can think about...just like Ella and her candy corn.  Taste and see that the LORD is [A LOT] good!