M&Ms: Is There Anything They Can't Do?

Back in 1941 when Forrest Mars, Sr. started producing M&M candy he probably didn't expect that 70 years later I would be writing this post about his magical treats.  In fact he probably didn't foresee the coming of the internet at all. He was a smart dude, but I think this whole thing would have probably blown his mind.

Anyway, Mr. Mars got the idea for M&Ms from soldiers in the Spanish Civil War. These soldiers carried chocolate candy with a hard shell that kept the candy from melting. You know the whole, "melts in your mouth, not in your hand" thing. After getting a patent for his own process of making chocolate with a thin candy shell Mr. Mars brought the world M&Ms.

The candy was introduced to American troops serving in WWII during 1941. And today they are still fighting the good fight inside our home.

These magical candies are serving a two fold purpose in the Life of a New Dad home. First they are Braden's reward for using the toilet rather than his pants for disposing of bodily waste.

Second they are teaching him the colors. We don't just hand over the chocolate for a properly placed pee. The kid has to tell us the color too. He has known most of his colors for some time, but for some reason he doesn't like to tell us. Braden just says any color in hopes of moving on. Now, with the M&Ms, Braden is finally starting to play the color game rather than trying to drive me crazy. That is the magic of these little chocolate candies.

They fed the US troops in WWII.

They are teaching my son to poop in the toilet.

They are teaching my son his colors.

I don't think there is anything that M&Ms can't do. They can probably teach basic math skills and help kids learn to read. They may even be qualified as driver's ed instructors. These candies are special.

It is because of all these things that I would like to take time today to say thank you to the Mars Candy Company. Keep up the good work and don't let those so called health experts get you down. America needs its candy and we're counting on you.

Is Chocolate Healthy?

Much like the rest of the human race Braden loves chocolate. We discovered this a while back, but his love hit a fever pitch during the holiday season.

I know this discovery is along the lines of De Soto discovering the Mississippi River. As Jerry Seinfeld once said, "Like they wouldn't have found that anyway." The discovery itself is certainly not blogworthy, but my little man's passion for the cocoa bean is something to share.

We put out a Christmas candy jar for the holiday season. It contained my favorite candy, Reese's, and Hershey's Kisses.  We rarely give Braden candy, but on that special occasion when he eats all his food and been a good boy he can have a treat.

The first time we gave him a Kiss he was a happy man. Then he returned to the foot of the bar where the candy jar rested and began to point. Then he began to cry. Then he began to scream. This went on until we finally hid the candy jar. After that he could only get candy from a secretive place.  We had to guard the secret location of the candy jar like Colonel Sanders guards his 11 original herbs and spices.

At our Christmas Eve celebration at Arica's mom's house all the kids got candy canes filled with kisses and some Reese's as well. Right from the beginning Braden picked up the candy canes and carried them around beating things.  Then we gave him a kiss and he carried them around for a different reason.

Braden would carry the candy to his mom and scream.  If he didn't get any he would then turn to me, then to the next person and so on. He just kept crying for chocolate. Of course my brother in law thought this was hilarious.

Somehow amidst the chaos of the evening we made it home with everyone's Kiss filled candy canes. I think we have 4 or 5 canes.  The day after, when the house was still a bit in disorder from all the presents and paper, Braden found some kisses and brought them to me. I declined to give him one and he seemed OK and headed for his room.

A few moments later he emerged from his room with another Kiss loaded container. I guess he has a secret stash.

Unless some government funded academic out there can prove that chocolate is indeed healthy when eaten in mass quantities we are going to have to start storing chocolate in a strong box at our house.