Candy Canes

Madison's favorite treat this season by far has been the candy cane. It doesn't help that they are everywhere. Just yesterday while we were at the post office mailing out Christmas cards, the postal worker had a candy cane for Madison, which she gladly accepted with a "thank you!"

We've got a few on the gingerbread house, and maybe we'll put a few on the Christmas tree as well. The problem there is that she'll sneak them off the tree and eat them - she's getting kind of sneaky when it comes to that sort of thing!

MADISON'S BOOK CLUB

This might be a great opportunity to talk about one of her Christmas books, "The Legend of the Candy Cane." This book has nice illustrations in it, and features a mysterious stranger who arrives in town one day to open up a special kind of shop: a candy store. By the book's end, we learn a Biblical story that can be shared - all based on the shapes and colors of the candy cane.

* For example, the candy cane is a "J" shape. This is apparently a fairly important letter when it comes to the Bible.

* It's also the shape of a shepherd's crook, which brings to mind the shepherds in the field, or Psalm 23.

* Finally, there are the red stripes on the candy cane, which can be tied to Jesus' death and resurrection.

The book is nice, and something pleasant to read while eating a candy cane - which makes Madison enjoy it all the more. One more note: there is some debate about the history of the Christian symbology of the candy cane. To which I now respond, using carefully researched analysis based on ancient paperwork from the Cologne Cathedral in Germany: WHO CARES?

I mean seriously: no one today really knows who first came up with the candy cane or why. So just let it go!

"I passed through the seven levels of the Candy Cane forest, through the sea of swirly twirly gum drops, and then I walked through the Lincoln Tunnel."

-Buddy the Elf