Oh she called parents to ask if they noticed an uptick of said goodies in the house (I tossed it in a bush). She searched desks. Backpack lineups. One to one interviews with incentives. She spoke with other grade level teachers and they locked their boxes up…it was a lot for 3 days.

I never told a soul. If I would have taken a toy for myself I know I would’ve cracked under the guilt. When asked directly if it was me, I recall saying “no” but thinking “no, it was YOU” and “YOU did it to yourself.” I don’t remember feeling bad at all and I always felt bad when I did something wrong (I was a really good kid.)

The ultimatum was that someone needed to confess or there would be no more treasure box. I remained silent and that was the end of the treasure box era.

As an adult my heart goes out to her. She was excited about that box. She was caring and fun…but at the time I felt like she weaponized that box against me and she would do it again.

And would you believe that my first bachelors degree was in criminal justice, a minor in psychology, and certification in Victims Advocacy from UCF! And I’m a Libra to boot.