sweet and sour

Ashtyn and I share a great love (okay...maybe an obsession!) with the candy Sour Patch Kids. We talk about loving Sour Patch Kids with each other, we dream about the sweet and sourness and we drool over our joint cravings when one of us mentions the yummy goodness! Last night, when I picked Ashtyn up from his Royal Ranger class he grinned at me with an ornery twinkle in his eye. I was wondering what he was about to tell me. I can't lie, I was kind of nervous! As I watched him, Ashtyn reached deep into the dark depths of his jeans pocket and pulled out a wadded up Sour Patch Kids candy wrapper. He handed me what I thought was an empty wrapper and said "I saved you two of my Sour Patch Kids!" My heart melted! My insides were literally almost as mushy as the overheated and squished Sour Patch Kids that had just been pulled from my son's pocket! (Who knows what else has seen the inside of that pocket...) Ashtyn's kindness surprises me each and every day. He is so thoughtful, such a sweet kid (he gets it from me...) and his heart is so big and so full of love. When I opened the Sour Patch Kids wrapper I had a leery feeling in my stomach as I stared at the two smashed together and sticky pieces of candy looking back at me. But I did what any mom would do and enjoyed each and every sour and sweet bite! Now, though, I think I'll start subliminally telling Ash how much I love "NEW packs of Sour Patch Kids" and "UNOPENED wrappers of my favorite sweet and sour candy" so that maybe next time I will have even more joy while eating my candy gift and less fear that my digestive tract won't be able to handle whatever wonderful germs attached themselves to the candy during Royal Ranger class, in the hands of my own son and then while sitting in my son's jeans pocket. Yikes!