SENsational!

"My Dear Lucy,

     I wrote this story for you, but when I began it I had not realized that girls grow quicker than books. As a result you are already too old for fairy tales, and by the time it is printed and bound you will be older still. But some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again...." C.S. Lewis

I understand what C.S. Lewis was saying to his God-daughter, Lucy. For a long while, I was unable to believe in fairy tales, but thankfully, God's destroying my "grown-up" cynicism and replacing it with childlike wonder. I'm sharing experiences with my 9-year old son that remind me what it's like to be his age...long before the concern of zits, prom dates and paychecks.

   We shared one of these times recently:

"Mom! Can you please, please, take me to the gas station? There's a new snack that just came out and I need to buy it."

"What snack?" I asked "And how do you know it's at the gas station?"

"I just know they are. I can't explain them. They're called Fat Cakes. It's this pink, round ball thingy with fluff inside and crackly things that look like broken glass."

"I'm pretty sure, no one's making snacks with broken glass on it buddy."

"Ugh! (pounding fists on lap) Yes. Yes they are!!! I'm not kidding mom! I'll show you, they were on iCarly and they're... SENsational!"

All of a sudden it hit me.

"Buddy, could the flaky things be coconut? Does it have marshmallow and cake in it?"

"No. it's not coconut. It's broken glass."

"Dude, trust me. They wouldn't make a snack for kids that looks like broken glass. What does it taste like?"

"I don't know. I've never tasted one." (The power of iCarly!)

By that time, I was pretty sure he was talking about Hostess Snowballs and thus, began the great snowball hunt.

We went from place to place. After the third gas station and a stop in at Dollar General, I gave up and told him they weren't any good anyway. His disappointment at my criticism hit directly in the heart and so I decided to look at it from his point of view.

Childhood memories of my favorite snack flooded in. When I was a kid, I was certain this was the best snack in the world.....

Seeing my beloved cherry pie (Real Fruit Filling mom!) brought back memories of other things I cherished...things my parents thought were a waste of money and time.

I searched high and low for those "Fat Cakes" and finally, we found some counterfeit ones at Walmart. They were so disgusting looking I couldn't even eat them, but he did, and said they were great. Until yesterday. Yesterday, we found the real thing, just in time for St. Patrick's Day, and for him it was like discovering gold. He pestered me into buying two packages, one to share with his friends at school and one for us. Before I could say "I'm not eating that crap." He laid out a towel on the floor in the middle of the hallway and made us a snowball picnic. How could I refuse?

"Ready? We'll take a bite at the same time! 1...2...3....."

Funny...they tasted like childhood.