The Best Candy Closet in the Tri-State Area

So Alex came home with a box of Chips Ahoy cookies yesterday. The original, crunchy with chips in every bite variety. I don't ever buy stuff like that, so I'm pretty sure that I haven't had one of those since I was about 13 years old. I didn't even remember that I liked them to tell you the truth. Then I had one, and all of a sudden I was in grade school again. After school, still in that awful uniform.




(And on a related note, the new skorts for the older girls are the definition of terrible. I really like Rush's description though, "For those active yet classy girls, try our cotton/polyester blend girls skort featuring an elastic back and a two button wrap around front. Perfect for any girl on the go!" You couldn't have paid me enough to wear that.)

As soon as we got home from school, Mom Mom and Pop Pop always sat us down and we all got snacks and did our homework. Mom Mom had the best candy closet in the tri-state area (actually, she still does). It was always packed with empty, oversized Skippy peanut butter tubs of both peanut and regular M&Ms, miniature Snickers bars, and Starburst. The second shelf of the closet was designated for packs of Milano cookies, chips, a covered pot with a plastic knob on top filled with every flavor of Trident gum available (too high for the littler kids to get at), and two giant Tupperware containers of Chips Ahoy and Oreo cookies respectively. Mom Mom bought in bulk, so all the cookies came in giant cardboard boxes, and the Tupperware containers were filled a sleeve at a time.








Usually, as far as the cookies go, a four inch stack of either or both were paired with a full glass of whole milk in a mug like this one.

I actually remember fights breaking out over who got what color mug. I think the dispute had something to do with Power Rangers and how each kid's cup color should correspond to the correct gender power ranger. I usually ended up with the creme colored mug since I didn't really care, but the "Trini," "Jason," and "Billy" colored-mugs were always the most popular. I also remember a time when Victoria was in a high chair while we were all eating Oreos, but she didn't like the cookies, just the cream. I remember sitting there with a butter knife, scraping the creme out of the center and giving it to her (which was hard work considering the Double Stuf variety hadn't been invented yet).

During the summer, we would forego the usual snacks and Pop Pop would walk us around the corner to the deli to get water ice. It wasn't very far, but it was always funny to see Pop Pop trailed by half a dozen kids through Cleveland Heights.

Lots of good memories...