Berta and Abby were eating jellybeans recently. Abby mentioned something about a tummy ache, presumably from eating too much candy. I wondered where she had learned this tidbit, and figured that Berta must have told this to her to prevent her from eating the whole bag of beans. This got me wondering…
Is “you’ll get a tummy ache” just an excuse that parents give so that their kids don’t eat too much candy? I don’t remember ever getting sick from eating too much candy - no amount of candy was too much in my childhood mind. Then again, maybe I stopped myself thinking that I might get sick from it.
Another thought- Maybe adults get sick from eating too much candy and impart this sentiment on their children as an honest attempt at warning.
I think I’m leaning toward the collusion hypothesis. Strangely, I don’t think there is an easy way that this hypothesis can be tested, and certainly don’t want Abby eating all kinds of sweets just to test my crazy ideas.
