Of Uncles and Giant Straws

My kids happen to have two uncles who like to entertain them with a variety of questionable activities. I realize that this is what uncles are made to do, but I feel a bit shortchanged in that neither of them have produced offspring of their own, thus depriving me of being the BEST AUNTIE EVER. (hint, hint) My brother visited recently and brought the kids what must have been nearly 2 dozen of those giant pixie sticks. You know, the kind that have enough sugar in them to put you in a coma for days. I looked at those straws, and looked at my kids. Did they really need to pour tablespoons of rainbow-hued sugar down their gullets? Uh, no. Fortunately for me, they had never been introduced to pixie sticks and Tyler proclaimed them to be giant straws. I went with that and surreptitiously snipped the ends and poured the offending powder in the sink. Tyler caught a glimpse and asked what it was. I told him it was just yucky stuff they put in the straws. That was enough for him, and he happily went off with his new straw. That is, until my brother learned of my deception cleverness. He couldn't believe that I would deprive my little overactive angels of a sugar overdose, and took it upon himself to explain to the kids what was really inside those 'giant straws'. Uh, thanks, Nate? It all came out in the end because after the initial novelty of it they decided they didn't like pixie sticks much. Now, who wants to send their kids over for an afternoon with Auntie Meg? Pixie sticks free of charge.