liz, we go to a small-town parade on the 4th of july in zelienople. and EVERYONE brings a bag for the candy...

This candy business was foreign to me, too, until we were transferred to Michigan! Kids brought bags like it was frickin' Halloween to EVERY parade of the year. It actually really bothers me. A LOT. Shouldn't the people, bands, & floats be enough incentive to happily enjoy the experience??? Now my kids purely associate going to parades with getting candy, and it ticks me off. Yesterday they didn't throw any candy (tons at the St. Patty's Parade, though) and Will & Sis were actually "bored". Sorry to go off, but grrrrrrrr... I got candy one time at one parade EVER growing up in NC, and I like parades b/c they are fun to watch. Period.

i'm with you sues. i was ready to leave after one incident where a BRUTE kid alsmot body-checked ADAM to get a tootsie roll. i told kenny we're skipping parades until our kids are old enough to fend for themselves (and after they've been trained NOT to be a brutes themselves!) :)

This candy-throwing thing seems to be relatively new (as in, not when I was a child), but it's here in Florida as well. Santa Claus comes through our neighborhood throwing candy, and the kids act like idiots diving for it. I don't think it's going to stop, however, until something happens like happened in Basel (Switzerland) one recent Fasnacht -- someone was killed diving under a truck for a trinket that was thrown. Apparently there aren't as many avaricious lawyers there, because the practice continues, but I'll bet it would shut things down here fast enough.

Maybe you could resort to a form of bribery. Make your point clear that the value of a parade is the parade, that it's dumb to swarm after pieces of candy like fish to bait, and plan some special treat for afterwards -- I don't know, maybe homemade candy? At least it would be better stuff. :)

that's a great idea, linda! and also thanks for mentioning santa. i was sure i have been to parades where santa usually ends the parade line and the parade is over.

We go to two local parades. The first is the Dandelion Festival parade and the second is the Memorial Day parade in Zeeland, Michigan. The amount of candy they can grab rivals Halloween. The good thing for me is that Tootsie Rolls are the candy of choice. I hate Tootsie Rolls. Cam and Joe are so timid that they didn't grab candy that much when they were younger. Now they are getting the hang of it. We hide their candy bags when we get home. I wish people would have thrown candy at me when my family took me to parades.

This isn't about your post (though I like that), but because I couldn't get your email address link to work. I wanted to send you this:

I'm writing because you write a blog that I regularly read, and I wanted to ask if you'd be willing to contribute a post to the Pentcost Blog Carnival that I'm hosting at Homemaking Through the Church Year. Here's a post explaining what the blog carnival is about. Basically, Kerry (of A Ten'o'Clock Scholar) and I are hosting a series of blog carnivals celebrating the church year, so that we and other liturgically-minded moms can share seasonal ideas and inspirations.
So, if you have a post about a way of celebrating Pentecost with your family, or some thoughts on the role of the Holy Spirit in your devotional life, or something similar, I would love to include it in the carnival. Please just reply to me with the link, so that I can include it.
Thanks for considering being a part of this!

The link (which isn't showing up) is at http://churchyear.blogspot.com/2009/05/pentecost-blog-carnival.html

I'd love it if you'd participate!