Too much time on my hands?

Mr. Salt: What is this, Wonka, some kind of funhouse?

Willy Wonka: Why? Are you having fun?

Yesterday the kids didn't have school. We had a four day weekend.

I know, I hear you...."stop whining, C."

Ah...you know me too well.

And if you've been keeping up with me, you'll know that I've been de-cluttering my home. Too. Much. Stuff. Too. Little. Space.

Someone has actually suggested that what I need is a bigger home. Nope. Not gonna happen.

No...I need less stuff. My kids need less stuff.

I started to really think about that while we were re-watching "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory". The 1971 version. Where Gene Wilder is a little creepy...and Candy Reigns Supreme!

I think that's one of the reasons why I really like the 1971 version of Willy Wonka. Candy is a big deal. No one liked greedy ol' Veruca much. She had it all and still wanted more. Ugh.

Seems though...that my kids have more of that mentality than I'd like. They have so much...and still...they don't have enough. Sigh...let's go back to the movie...

So we're watching the show...and the scene where they're in Wonka's Chocolate Room...and I'm watching them all dive in to the candy...I thought of what I'd choose to eat there.

I always think of what I'd choose to eat there. Although I'll admit...after poor little Augustus' 'tumble'....I stay FAR away from the Chocolate River. Maybe a big ol' sucker...or one of those beach balls...those things are HUGE!

Reminds me of my own 1970's...growing up...

You see, I remember candy being a big deal then.

My sis and I would go to Cissna Park with my Mom on the weekend. Mom would run some errands there and we almost ALWAYS ended up at the drugstore before we went home.

The drugstore with the penny candy. Where you got this brown lunchbag that you could fill.

We got a quarter each...and man! You could get a LOT of candy for a quarter!!

I think though...that what I really liked...was the choices. There were several combinations...so even though I always got a quarter, I didn't have to go home with the same thing every time.

I was like....well, a kid in a candy store!!

My sis liked the candy dots on paper. She called them 'pills'. I kinda liked the candy cigarettes. They had this gum kind that, if you blew into the paper just right, looked like you were ACTUALLY smoking...because the powdered sugar would be blown off.

Hm...pills and cigarettes. Boy, looking at that now, that doesn't look good!! (snort! Some marketing guy knew what he was doing!!)

Let's see....um...what else? OH! I hated those wax soda bottles with the syrup in them. Yuck! Today when my kids get candy like that, where it's liquid-y...ewwwww...don't care for it.

My favorite, you ask? Oh...decisions....decisions...I'd have to say that I really liked Pixy Stix. They are sooooooo good! If you dump 'em down your throat, WHOA! It's like Sweet and Sour all at the same time! Your eyes water...and then you open the next one...

We knew we had a limit though. We knew we couldn't get ALL the candy. We had to be choosy.

Helping my son declutter his room yesterday was interesting. I made him choose. Three boxes. Keep it, give it away, or throw it away. Each toy/item had to go in a box. He had a lot of stuff.

Stuff hides the important things. While we were sorting, I heard him frequently say, "I've been looking for this! I thought I lost it!"

It was there. You just couldn't see it.

When we finished, I asked him what he liked about his 'new room'. His answer was, "I liked being with you, Mom."

Hm...sucking up to me so he could watch tv? Possibly.

Or maybe...maybe I've filled my time up with too much STUFF lately...

My friends...I encourage you to check your calendars today...think of your day as a quarter in a drugstore. You can't have all the candy! You need to be choosy.

And yes....yes...as a matter of fact....I'd LOVE some pixy stix! (I like the purple ones best!)