Mother's (Day) Little Helper

Little boxes of See's Candy chocolates were handed out to all the women yesterday at Church in honor of Mother's Day. This is a tradition that I find absolutely delightful. In my opinion, it is much better than the other Mother's Day tradition; lone carnations that are handed out every few years, in the misguided assumption that we women would prefer a flower to chocolate. (I would even take a packet of Carnation Instant Breakfast over a flower that is pretty much in tatters by the time I get it home, with the blossom all snapped and drooping forlornly. At least that would be something I could eat.) So I was quite happy to be handed my chocolates yesterday. Usually I am a pretty good sharer, but Mother's Day chocolates I eat all by myself, on principle. And now that I think about it, I am actually NOT a good sharer, just a good hider of goodies--goodies that I go to great lengths to conceal from my husband and children. I am a closet eater (the closet, I have found, is an excellent place to hide the goods, and then eat them, undetected) but I readily admit it, and that is a good sign, right?

So I brought my chocolates home and ate one and nearly choked with the hilarious realization that it was a coffee truffle (click on the amazing photo above, and you can see coffee listed right between the egg whites and the vanilla). Yup, someone had ordered chocolates for the Relief Society with coffee in them. No, it is not like they handed out little hotel-sized bottles of Jack Daniel's to all the moms, but we Mormon's are pretty persnickety when it comes to coffee, tea and the like. (Just not Diet Coke. I don't understand it either.) The whole coffee business reminds me of several years ago when our bishop at the time was responsible for the chocolates and later realized he had passed out 200 boxes of chocolates with chocolate liqueur filling. This was by far the funniest thing that our good, Christian, and rather--how shall I word it--boring bishop ever did. It is one of my favorite Mother's Day memories.

So I ate the rest of the chocolates today. Shoved about 5 of them down in one sitting this morning. Since the box I was given only had four chocolates in them, you may well wonder how I had so many more to enjoy. Simple. Pie brought home an extra box, and after eating only ONE for himself, gave me the rest. He is a prince.

The other box had also had a coffee truffle in it. Ate that one too, even though I do not particularly care for coffee truffles, as it turns out. I ate it because I wouldn't want my kids to get a hold of something like that. It's called PARENTING, folks.