The apple doesn't fall far from the tree

When I was in the 5th grade, my mother volunteered at the school on a weekly basis. For Mother's Day, my teacher gave my mom a box of See's candy, as a thank you for volunteering.

On the same day, my girl scout troop made muffins for our moms for Mother's Day. I walked home from school that evening, with both the candy and the muffins in my backpack.

Except the See's candy didn't make it home. I ate it. Yes, the whole box. Don't judge! See's candy is about the best thing in the world.

I hid the empty box in my backpack and gave the muffins to my mother. "These are from Mrs. Hart, because you volunteer in the class," I told my mother. I'm sure my logic was that if  I was going to eat my teacher's present, the least I could do is let her take credit for my muffins.

So, I ate the candy, my parents ate the muffins, and they never knew about the candy. All was well.

Until Monday morning.

My mother gave me a sealed envelope and said, "Here. Give this to Mrs. Hart."

"What is it?" I asked.

"It's a thank you note for those delicious muffins," my mother answered.

Oh, Crap. Not to mention, I'm sure that they were definitely NOT delicious, since they were made by a bunch of 10 and 11 year old girls.

But I couldn't give the note to Mrs. Hart, not when I didn't know what it said. So as I was walking to school, I carefully opened the letter.

Dear Mrs. Hart, 
Thank you for the lovely muffins. They were delicious. They were the perfect addition to our Mother's Day brunch..... 

Oh, no. Mrs. Hart could never see that.  The card went down the sewer drain.

It wasn't until several weeks later that it occurred to me that I never found a way to thank Mrs. Hart for the candy on behalf of my mother. I knew I couldn't pass off a note in my own writing, so I never said anything. Better to just have the teacher think my mother was rude.

I was reminded of this story when I was going through Bug's backpack last week and saw that Bug had been practicing to write my signature.

"Ummm, Bug? What is this? Why are you writing my signature?"

Without missing a beat, Bug replied, "Your signature is so pretty, I wanted to try it."

Lies. You can't play a player, my friend!