Sweettarts Chicks, Ducks, & Bunnies

I can't remember a time when I haven't loved them. My grandma used to pack their rattly little bodies into plastic eggs for our annual Easter egg hunt, and my mom used to nestle them in a bed of plastic grass in my Easter basket. I love them because they're nostalgic and delicious and they only come once a year. They always remind me of spending time with my family and the emergence of spring.

However, they hurt my teeth badly. More than anything else in the world, they make my molars ridiculously sensitive. Therefore, during the rest of the year, I have a strict moratorium on Sweettarts of all ilks, along with Nerds, Lemonheads, and Sour Patch Kids (all of which, btw, I love). It's only the week before Easter that I allow myself to have Sweettarts, and then only the Chicks, Ducks, & Bunnies  because their superior size and powdery texture make them absolutely irresistable--I would be a fool to even try! And by "have them" I mean I buy a whole damn bag and eat it in two to three days.

This is, I know, a terrible idea, and a terrible idea that I will have annually without fail. I already have my bag this year, and my teeth are already aching! But I wouldn't give them up for anything.

I think that candy is important. Like really important. It's important to be a kid every once in awhile, to occasionally eat something that induces pure, giddy, stupid pleasure, no matter how bad it is for your teeth or your waistline. And, yes, I believe in moderation, but I also believe that I will only live once, and I would be a damned fool to ever want to let an Easter slip by without a mouthful of tooth-gouging, tongue-savaging, tummy-pudging Sweettart happiness!