We have family movie nights pretty regularly. It can be hard to pick a movie because of the vast age range in our kids. But one thing that is always an easy choice for my kids is what candy to get. This night is ALWAYS an exciting event in our house because it means loads of CANDY. I allow pretty much unsanctioned access to gobs of gummies, chocolates, and what have you during movie night. I will buy a haul from the store, and they will shove their faces with it.
Normally, I try to limit candy intake. I hide movie night candy when it’s not supposed to be eaten because my family has limited self-control (and Vince is bringing down the average significantly. Man cannot control himself, especially with gummy candy. Or Oreos. One cookie turns into two sleeves verrrrryyy quickly.) Point is, if I don’t hide it, it will not last in my house. They have issues.
This gorging of gummy candy makes me wonder if anyone in my family knows what’s in this stuff. Google it. It’s rather gross. You know, if the thought of consuming large amounts of animal tissue, bone, and skin makes you queasy. I don’t think they know that’s what they are eating. And, after our most recent movie night, it’s apparent they don’t know a lot about the candy they love.
For movie night, the kids get to put in their requests for what candy they want me to buy when I need to replenish the supply. It’s usually the same things but sometimes they will throw in some weird stuff like Airhead Bites. That was a newbie to the list this past movie night. Usually, I’ll asked them, and they will verbally tell me what to order. But, this last time, I texted them both separately to see what they would want.
Gianna responded back in record time. Like there was a contest for who got their order in first or something. I don’t think she has ever responded to a text so fast in her life. This pissed off Vince because he will text them both motivational quotes or videos and NEVER get a response. How this is surprising to him, I do not know.
Gianna’s list for candy included the Airhead Bites outlier, sour patch kids, gummy worms, Twix, and a handful of other candies. But the first thing on her list was “mike n nites.” Ok, I knew what she meant: Mike and Ike‘s. They always ask for those. It’s a fan favorite. Literally EVERY movie night, we get Mike and Ike candy. She has consumed them for YEARS.
Auto correct must have mixed it up.
Then….minutes later Scarlett chimed in on a separated thread with her order. Sour patch kids, Buenos, and….”Mike a Nites”. Hmmm, that’s strange. Could be autocorrect, I guess. But my gut was telling me otherwise. I realized it was likely that neither of my kids knew the name of cylinder candy they been shoveling into their pie holes for over a decade. Mike N Nites. Mike A Nites. Not Mike and Ike’s. The names right there on the bag (or box). Have they just not noticed? Can my kids even read?!
I called Gianna downstairs after she texted me to get to the bottom of this.
The conversation:
Me: Gianna, what’s on your candy list?
Gianna rattled off her lengthy order, including “Mike n Nites”
Me: Say that one again?
Gianna: Mike N Nites?
Me: Yeah. Spell It?
Gianna: M-I-K-E-N-I… and I guess there’s more than one way to spell Nights. N-I-T-E-S or…
Me (interrupting her): Oh my God, G. Seriously?
Gianna: What?
Me (pulling up a photo of the candy box on my phone): Look at this.
Gianna reads the label on my screen and starts laughing. She had no clue.
Me: I find it a little concerning that you’ve been eating something for years and have no clue what it’s really called.
Awhile later, I tested this on Scarlett as well and got the same results. Neither of my children knew the actual name of their favorite candy and somehow both landed on Nites instead of Ike’s.
Maybe we need to do a better job at pronunciation in my family. Maybe I need to make my kids read more. Or maybe I should only let them eat the things they know the name of. However, I know I will be calling them Mike N Nites for the rest of my life because even though they were 17 and 13 when I found out, when your kids mispronounce something it’s adorable.
And you start saying that word that way yourself in memory of their fleeting childhood.