A few weeks ago I instituted a little session during dinner where everyone in the family has to talk about something they learned that day. It’s a fun way to get the kids to review things from school, and since I read the occasional random news story on the internet I can teach them something totally useless but interesting.
On Thursday we were chowing down and Kyra asked me what I had learned that day. I told her that I’d gone to a chocolate factory and had learned how candy bars are made.
She was incredulous, and after a moment both her and Alex insisted that I was making up the story. I most certainly hadn’t been to a chocolate factory! I think they were envisioning the massive industrial complex from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which we’d all watched about a month ago.
Undeterred, I told them how I’d learned that the chocolate is liquefied and pumped through a series of pipes and tanks, squirted into molds, wrapped, and put in cooling racks. Still unbelieving, Kyra ran to the kitchen and poked around the cupboards until she found the two candy bars I’d taken home from my tour. She came back into the dining room, very excited, and told everyone that Dad was, in fact, telling the truth and there were some huge candy bars for all of us!
The complete truth is that I’d been to Chocolove, a company in Boulder that does make chocolate bars. I submitted a proposal to rebuild their web site, and was there to talk with the president and marketing lead. Prior to the official meeting, the president gave me a tour of the facility. It was actually really interesting.
In the end, I think it’s great to take a few minutes each day and ponder what I learned that day. It helps me focus on continually expanding my horizons.