It’s the most wonderful time of the year, according to my children: Sugar Month. Yes yes, Halloween is technically one day, but that little detail appears to have escaped my two sugar monsters, who are under the impression that the second those first leaves fall, it’s all-chocolate, all-the-time. (I blame grocery stores; can we PLEASE put those ten-pound snack-size assortment bags on shelves beyond the reach of a four-year-old? …Please?)
Herein lies the problem: When children know that candy is (allegedly) on the menu, they’re not super interested in anything else, and especially not in coming inside because dinner is ready. No, they’re very, very busy hiding on the front porch with the trick-or-treat buckets that they pulled out of storage sometime in August and filled with pilfered munchies, thinking that Mom doesn’t know what they’re up to. (Spoiler: Mom knows everything.)
Beware of the child on a sugar high.
How to solve this little problem? Bribery, of course!
SURPRISE PIZZA PARTY TIME! Because if there is one thing that my children love as much as chocolate, it is pizza, and Red Baron Pizza comes in a huuuuge variety of flavors and crusts – including Classic Crust, Brick Oven and Thin & Crispy (our favorite is the Classic Crust Pepperoni).
And you can put M&Ms on it! (Kidding. Do not do this. But technically speaking, you can.)
There is actual, capital-S Science behind this particular solution, by the way: according to a survey of 1000 moms of kids ages 3-17, more than half agree that having pizza is one of the only things that takes mealtime chaos down a notch. Moral of the story? Have a box or two of Red Baron pizza handy. All the time. (But most especially during Sugar Month.)
(…OK, so I like it, too.)
This post was created in partnership with Red Baron Pizza. Thank you for supporting the brands that help keep RG ticking! Photos by Kim Ebbets.
Paws off my pizza.
Oh fine.
