A Box of Chocolates

We are wrapping up the school year and we have our final three days with kids this week.  I like it when things start falling out of the picture and the to-do lists get smaller and smaller.   This time of year makes me feel contemplative, and as usual, I love my kids more and more each day as the end draws near.

I've had this thought before, but it occurred to me again, so I thought I'd share it with you.  Kids are like a box of chocolates.  How you ask?  Well let me tell you.

Some kids are downright nutty.  

Some are surprising.  What's the center going to be like in this one?  He did WHAT during lunch!?

Some are a delight through and through.  It's sweet, creamy and pleasant from beginning to end.  You wish you had a whole box of just that kind.  Names are coming to mind right now.

Then there's that one with the very hard caramel. You know it's in there somewhere, and each time you pick a chocolate you hope it's not THAT one. Well it is.  It's hard to get through.  You have to power through it to the very end. Hopefully there was only one in the box.  I can handle one or two, but SIX!! The caramel gets stuck in your teeth and just doesn't seem to go away.  Eating chocolates is supposed to be a pleasant experience, why do I do this to myself?  I dream of other careers other than tasting chocolates.

Others are bright and cheery on the inside.  They have soft orange or strawberry centers.  These little ones offer sweet smiles and happy attitudes.

Some are dark and deep flavored, like the maple cream.  It may not be recognized as the sweetest and brightest initially, but it has real depth of flavor. Now that's a quality chocolate.

Some chocolates don't stand out on their own and get hidden among the wrappers.  You have to search them out.

Sometimes I wonder if eating all this chocolate can be healthy for me.  But if you think about it, tasting chocolates is really not a bad job.  And no two boxes of chocolates are exactly the same.  Next year there may not be a nutty chocolate in my box, but instead a double espresso trifle with a coffee bean on top. You just never know.

Cheers everyone! Here's to tasting chocolates one class (I mean one box) at a time.