The Best Birthday Surprise

Caleb & Carissa have been deprived of GUM their entire '4' years. Please don't say I'm a bad mama or that I've traumatized my children. Seriously, what's the point of GUM at such a young age? We decided as parents that C & C needed to wait for the juicy pleasures of chewing gum until they were old enough to show a little responsibility.

Oh yes, the kids asked for it but we deterred their requests by telling them that GUM was for older children and something worth waiting for (we gave them no definitive time frame - translate: hold them off as long as possible...) but they came up with their target date - the year of '4' - and frankly we were ok with that.

So here it is, proof that on their big '4' birthday we took a trip to Walgreen's
and purchased their very own packs of GUM. It was the best birthday surprise ever! The experience was long awaited and the excitement was overwhelming. I just love the exuberance and joy of children. I've personally found that it is often the littlest pleasures that cause such enthusiasm.

They were chomping at the bit to get their gum open and....

...actually put it in their mouth and chew it. Carissa chose pink bubble gum and Caleb chose yellow Juicy Fruit.
I was so excited when they picked out their gum that I didn't even think about the fact that Caleb's gum wasn't sugar-free. Honestly it didn't strike me until Jeff asked me why I allowed Caleb to buy sugar gum. My answer was pretty baffled. "Uh, because I didn't even think about it? I was too in to the moment?" It was an honest answer but after two days I traded out his gum for some sugar-free spearmint which went over just as well.

So here is proof of the best birthday surprise ever. GUM.


Might I add that I felt a little strange with my camera taking pictures inside and outside the Walgreen's establishment? But the kids helped me out - they felt the need to show and tell everyone who walked by that it was their birthday and they just got GUM. Perfect.

Oh, and one lady said "that brick wall is good background, maybe I'll bring my family to take photos here". Maybe I've started something.