Box tops

Oh, Box Tops. You have my kindergartner and me wrapped around your little finger. Or corner, I should say.

I know this because last night I woke up around 3am with the sudden realization that I had thrown away a package without clipping out the little Box Top rectangle that would bring my daughter’s school a whopping ten cents. Yes, I dug in the recycling bin for it this morning. And, no, I wouldn't have lost sleep or gone dumpster diving if I remembered I accidentally threw out a dime.

I began to suspect the addicting power of Box Tops because instead of staring at the back of a cereal box at breakfast time like a normal kid, this morning Sage made towers of Box Tops, sorted according to size.

Perhaps other people have been sucked into this addicting phenomenon of collecting box tops. I have designed a test to help other diagnose possible Box Top addictions.

1. Have you ever bought a box of Tuna Helper just because it has three box tops on it, and not because you have any plans to eat it?

2. Have you searched for Box Tops on Ebay to save yourself some trouble? (Do it--I promise you'll be amused.)

3. Do you get an involuntary little surge of adrenaline when you see a pile like this?

...well, Sage and I both got that adrenaline rush when my sister presented her with 60 (!!!!!) box tops from her in-laws last week. It was like Christmas in April. All of which can be redeemed for six whole dollars for Sage’s school.

I spent more than six dollars last time we were at Sam’s Club because Sage noticed a monster size box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch bearing…wait for it, THREE box tops! She begged and begged to get it until I, like the unjust judge in the book of Luke, plopped it in the cart to save myself the mental anguish, "lest by her continual coming she weary me."

I guess it's my own fault for being a pushover. Which is probably what General Mills is banking on.

Multi-tasking

Lily is all about multi-tasking.
I think she'll play the marimba someday.

Bunnies or Bitter Herbs

After capturing this on camera yesterday morning...

Lily trying to empty the entire contents of a candy-pooping chicken into her mouth

...I have declared war on our Easter candy.

Sage hasn’t been the problem. In fact, following an Easter egg hunt with her cousins, they all sat down and traded their goods. She ended up the proud owner of four packages of microwave popcorn (“for our movie nights, mom!”), having traded and given away her chocolate and quarters. I had to resist the urge to lecture her about the value of money and the abundance of popcorn residing at our house already, in honor of the Easter spirit (which, incidentally, has nothing to do with chocolate, quarters or popcorn).

As for Eliza, well, she hasn’t eaten more than 3 mouthfuls of stable food (without being bribed) since we stopped by the Easter’s Bunny’s hutch last week (aka Sam’s Club).

And Lily is obviously happy with chicken poop candies that are hard as rocks and were probably assembled somewhere in China five years ago. Though she hasn't been known to discriminate against sugar in any other form, either.

On the spiritual side, thanks to my dad’s emphasis on Easter, Sage and Eliza can tell about Passover (going all the way back to Joseph in Egypt), and name many of the events of Jesus’ last week (even if Eliza thinks he suffered in the Garden of Eden.)

As I took the chance to tell stories about Moses and the plagues, the raising of Lazarus, Mary at the empty tomb, and more, I was astounded at the kids' interest. What I thought would be a quick scripture thought about Passover turned into a 45 minute storytime for kids who listened with fascination.

Mark and I (and my sister, Suzy, who is knows a lot more about bitter herbs!) fielded many questions that tested our knowledge of the scriptures. (You try naming all the Plagues without a cheat sheet). And while I was a little uncomfortable over Sage's interest in Judas' suicide, I had to hold back a chuckle when Eliza drew pictures of Jesus on the cross and Mary at his feet today on our white board. [Incidentally, Eliza told me Mary was counting, since Eliza's pictures came rather close to Sage's math problems.]

I'm confident that once all the Easter candy runs out around here and all our cavities are filled, Sage and Eliza will still remember about Jesus' Atonement. And maybe next year they'll want to hear stories about the Last Supper as much as they want to see if Peeps are really as gross as they remember.

"He is not here, for He is risen." It's not too late to celebrate the Easter message. This is a great video. And so is this.

Happy Easter.