Reason 45,175 I love New York: Economy Candy

Primo got a hold of the October issue of Time Out NY Kids and found a spread of confectionary wonders in the Shopping section. The sight of those severed fingers in gummi form made his little spook-loving heart go pitter patter.

“Mommy!” he said, heady from the DIY-thrill of making our own Fizz N Find creations, “We have to MAKE these!!”

“Whoa there tiger,” I replied, “”It doesn’t tell you how to make those, just where to buy them.”

“Then lets BUY them!!!” he shouted, undeterred, “Read WHERE Mommy, read where to go!”

"Economy Candy Store," I read, “But life isn’t some game of Candyland! We can’t just glut ourselves on sugar all the time. This is a special occasion sort of thing.”

That was Sunday 8am.

By 9:30am, I’d deemed it a special occasion day. That’s because I realized that if David and I were ever going to go see a movie again, we needed to grease the wheels of our babysitting machine a bit. Both the receiving end (getting the kids not to pitch a fit when we left) and the giving end (getting the babysitter to believe the kids were going to be good this time). The answer to both dilemmas? CANDY.

Not just any candy. Specialty Halloween candy. Severed fingers. All signs pointed to Economy Candy, and to my cousin, babysitter extraordinaire, who just happens to live a few blocks from the confectionary wonderland.

So, we loaded the kids in the car and sped over. I waited to call her until 10am when we were speeding up the FDR. “Want to do some babysiiting?” I said, “You can buy them candy!!!”

“But Violet is here,” she said.

Violet is Alanna’s best friend and a great babysitter in her own right.

“Fantastic! You’ll have company!” I replied, “We’ll be at your house in five.”

Usually, the kids will moan and mope and sob and beg us not to leave but not when you promise them severed gummi fingers. Throw in a few fingers and they could barely wait for us to head in the opposite direction.

So we went to the Sunshine and saw the new Coen Brothers movie, a delightful pick me-up about a Job figure plagued with misfortune. It was good and all but I kind of felt afterwards like I needed to watch a few hours of Gossip Girl or something as a beautiful, shallow antidote.

When we picked up the kids, they were wildly happy from their trip to Economy Candy. Seconda had maintained a black cat theme, choosing a Halloween Pez dispenser and spooky feline made of chocolate..

Primo had held out for the severed fingers but, said Violet, there was none to be found.

“I asked everyone for the severed fingers and not only did they not have them but they had no idea what I was talking about,” she said, “I felt like a crazy person.”

Thankfully they had something even better than fingers – gummi teeth. Not just teeth but a whole mouth, that opens and closes, with rosy upper and bottom gums, in which protrude a set of teeth. Made out of candy! And you can get about a pound for $3.79. (Don’t call the pediatric dental police on me, I didn’t let him get a whole pound).

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Primo also walked away with a bag full of gummi brains and gummi eyeballs. Which is, perhaps, even better than gummi digits.

I convinced the children that if they handled their candy responsibly, eating only a piece or two every day for dessert, then I would be much more inclined to take them back in a few months for another “special occasion.” So far, so good.