From the desk of Easton:

 

Last week, my parents dressed me up and took me to the mall. While shopping, we came across a big bearded man. I don’t ever remember seeing this man before, but my parents sure acted like they did – they headed straight for him.

For the past year, my parents have told me not to talk to strangers. They were very clear about their instructions, which also included not taking candy from strangers (unless it’s Halloween of course, and they approve the candy). But here they were, trying to put me on this strangers lap!?

I came to the conclusion that this must have been a test to see if I’d been paying attention.

So I did just as I was told. I cried and tried to run away from the stranger.

But then things got tricky. The old man and his friend were trying to give me candy…I froze. All I could hear in my head was mommy and daddy saying not to take candy from a stranger, but it was a candy cane, and I’ve never tasted a candy cane before (there weren’t any in my Halloween bucket for some reason). Mommy and daddy seemed to be motioning to me that it was ok to take it. I slowly reached out and put the candy cane in my mouth, and it tasted like heaven!

But then, in the blink of an eye, I was back on the stranger’s lap and daddy had left me. Panic sunk in.

And so, I did just what I was told. Go me! Daddy heard my cries and came back quickly to get me away from the stranger.

Easton: 1   Stranger: 0

After my test, we left the mall and I got to enjoy my candy cane as a reward for the awesome job I did passing mommy and daddy’s test.

Remember friends, don’t ever talk to strangers and only eat the candy if mommy and daddy are with you and say it’s ok.