Sweets… treats… yummy… gummy … choco… rocko… sugar plum… raisin rum… fruity gel… caramel…!!!
In moderation…all fine and fun and fabulous. Especially as a child…if we had been good…sweets. If Mum and Dad were proud of us…sweets! If we went to visit our Nanna's home…sweets!! If we had to go to the Doctor's surgery or the dentist's practice…sweets!!!
However…I have always wondered why was Milly given more sweets than Mandy and me?
I have my favourites, I have to admit. However, I am not overly fussy when it comes to naughty sweet treats…I am just not a big fan of those chalky fizzy sweets – you know the ones I mean? Except Love Hearts…even though I don't really like eating them…I applaud the concept. One of my friends had a wedding cake which was plastered with love hearts and had sticks of candy rock as the supports to each tier of the cake.
My own personal favourites were white chocolate mice. Amongst the highest echelons of sweetie perfe ction! I liked the brown chocolate mice as well. But as a little one, the reward of white chocolate mice after being a good girl for mum when we went on an errand with her was epic! I would do a little celebratory dance to show my gladness. When the sweet shop man handed us our paper bag with our treasured sweeties, I would say "thank you thank you thank you with sugar sprinkles and a cherry on top". Utter exquisite happiness…all for 10p! Thanks Mumma…for all those delicious white mice you bought me throughout good days and bad. The mice you bought to cheer me up during my trials and tribulations. The mice you bought when I had done something you approved of and you wanted to reinforce in me that I should be a good good girl.
I found two favourite chocolate bars. I would save my pocket money (when I was old enough to be given pocket money) and these were my two favourite chocolate bars for many many years.
However… I have always wondered why was Milly given more sweets than Mandy and me?
When I look back (retrospectively…ha ha – still in the habit hey!!!) I have to admit I was never without sweets. Of course if I had been naughty, then naturally sweets were withheld. Once we started high school and my parents gave us pocket money, they no longer bought sweets for us. It was up to us to choose how to spend our pocket money.
Mum used to take us all the way to a dental practice in a seaside town about forty minutes drive away from where we lived. There were lots of closer dental practices. However, Mum took us to the dental practice where she had registered at the age of twenty-one when she had a little bedsit and had just left her nurse training course. (That is another story I will tell you about one day.) Most of my family still travel there after all these years.
When we were little ones the dentist gave my Mumma a right telling off! Why? Well, he blamed my mum for the state of our teeth. Mum had been training us to brush our teeth sure enough However, she would buy us boiled sweets. The dentist could somehow tell that we had been walking round with a boiled sweet slowly dissolving within our little mouths. It was dissolving out enamel and apparently ruining our teeth. The dentist gave my Mumma such a lecture that she wept. I was only around six at the time. I would never see, let alone taste another boiled sweet, From then on, every time we had sweets they were soft. Phew! That meant chocolate mice were safe, chocolate sprinkles were safe, even my favourite chocolate bars were safe! However, Mum would insist that we drank a glass of water after we had any sweets. After that trip to the dentist, Mumma was much more zealous with supervising our dental health. We were introduced to floss, mouthwash and we had the snazziest toothbrushes.
I remember one of my very first school trips…you know…it is such a long story, I think I should save it for another post…let me tell you now though, I ended up with a huge shopping bag full of sweets to take with me onto the school bus that was going to take us to our destination. You know, my Mumma had to reason with me, until I finally accepted that I should tell the teacher that they were for everyone to share. I thought they were all for me. Before Mumma won me over, I was thinking of how jealous my school friends would be when they saw how many sweeties I had.
Aaaaah…now I come to the main issue that played on my mind for many years. It was not my imagination. Milly truly was given more sweets than Mandy and me. We both saw it and we both felt keenly the injustice of the situation.
Finally my parents explained this mystery that had long provoked Mandy and I. Why was Milly given more sweets than Mandy and me?
If Mandy or I were given a bag of sweets, we would gladly start munching them and convey our thanks to our parents or whoever else had kindly rewarded us with a treat. Mum or Dad would often say, "Why don't you share your sweets with your friends, or with your brother and sisters?" Mandy and I would object. Under duress, we would finally be moved to offer our last few sweets to others.
But Milly was different. Milly was special. I mean that with every hint of respect for my gorgeous littlest sister. If Milly was given a bag of sweets…this is what she would do. After expressing her thanks, she would open the bag and peer in gleefully. Milly had the same joyful appreciation on receipt of a sweet treat as Mandy and I did. However, Milly would look into her bag and immediately offer one to whoever had given her the sweets. She would then rush around to everyone else present offering them one of the treasures from her goodie bag. After everyone else had a chance to take a sweetie, Milly would dive into the bag and take one for herself.
When I finally comprehended why Milly was given more sweets than Mandy and I…my heart swelled with love and pride for my littlest sister. My parents told us that noone had ever told Milly that she should offer sweets to others before she helped herself to them. That came all from Milly's own little heart. The best way to make sure that everyone had a treat was just to give the bag of sweets straight to Milly, who would of her own initiative run around and make sure everyone had something and then finally take one for herself.
Surely you agree…Millly…is gorgeous!!! Utterly gorgeous! I am so proud of her. I clap my hands and congratulate my parents who noticed this beautiful trait that Milly had manifested. They made sure Milly was always given more sweets than Mandy and me.
Loved your story… I am glad you finally realized the differences and it was a good thing…. My younger sis was always given the bigger portions of things. Of this, I am sure! I would even dream of it at night. It became quite comical when I would awaken and think that in the middle of the night- 2 am- my mom and dad had awakened my sis to give her a Milky Way bar. I am still sure that it happened!!! Enjoyed!
Thank you, I always thought it was favouritism towards the baby of the family until Mum explained what they had noticed about Milly.
Thank you, I fully intend to try out alternatives to the Daily Post provisions. I am just having a little rest for a few days as I have so much to do. But thank you for letting me know.
It's not just me then! They are yum are they not…?
Completely…not had one in years!!
I nominated you for a Liebster today…sorry if you have had these before. Just a little way to say thanks to you.
You made my mouth water and crave sweets!