Our Parade Strategy

I took Little Smoot to my college homecoming parade this weekend. Clarion's Autumn Leaf Festival Parade is a big deal, with tons of bands, dignitaries, floats, and most importantly of all: candy.

Oh, and there were lots of Shriners, too. I can't help but find it ironic that they want to ban cell phones and texting while driving, but it is perfectly legal for profoundly elderly men with funny hats to be permitted to zoom around on a parade route, sometimes popping wheelies. Clearly something should be done about this.

But anyway, getting back to the candy aspect of the parade... we always position ourselves right at the beginning of the parade, because that's when they throw the most candy. By the end, some of the groups realize that they've depleted their supplies and they have to start rationing stuff. Little Smoot came equipped with a big bag so she could stash as much candy as possible.

By the end of the parade, she had amassed more Tootsie Rolls than I have ever seen in one place at one time. Her bag was bulging with every sort of candy imaginable, which is awesome. You see, I'll sneak some of it for myself, and we'll let Little Smoot have a little of it. But before you know it, she'll forget that the bag even exists.

Halloween is just a few weeks away, if you see where I'm going with this. We won't even need to go to the store before Halloween! We'll have more than enough candy to supply every kid in the neighborhood, thanks to the parade. And if we still have some left over, I'm betting it'll keep until Easter! I'll bet Little Smoot would never even recognize that her Easter candy is the same stuff she caught at the parade.