Chocolate for Two

Did you ever see that episode of Friends where Phoebe is talking to Rachael about Joey breaking up with his girlfriend, and Rachael says 'what happened?', and Phoebe explains that the girl apparently ate off of Joey's plate during what became their final date? Rachael responds, knowingly, 'Oh, right ... Joey doesn't share food.'

Call me Joey, I guess. I've never been terribly good at sharing food. I can do it if I set my expectations ahead of time -- after all, now and then Celeste and I even order a single plate at a restaurant (we should really do that more often!) -- but much of the time I stiffen up at the thought of sharing my food. No, seriously.

And especially chocolate. I hoard chocolate. I hide it from the kids, on a high shelf in the pantry, and I literally cringe when they happen to find it. When I actually eat chocolate around the kids, I do whatever is necessary -- WHATEVER is necessary -- to ensure that they don't see me eating it, lest they ask for a bite. To be sure, some of that is just because I don't want to clean up chocolatey hands and faces when they're done ... but much of that is because I DON'T WANT TO SHARE.

So. We're on our way home from our 'round the world' trip yesterday, and Celeste passes Piper an individual bag of M&M's. (She also passed me a Snickers bar, which I eat all by myself, carefully keeping Piper from seeing it.) And Piper is munching her little chocolate pleasures while watching a pre-recorded episode of Dora.

And as we drive along, somewhere in southern Oklahoma, I hear Piper say, "Daddy, want some chocolate?"

I look over my shoulder from the driver's seat. I blink, confused. "What, sweetheart?"

"Daddy want some chocolate?"

Aside to Celeste, I comment, "How could I refuse?" And then, to Piper, "Sure honey."

She gives me an M&M and I eat it. A few minutes later she offers me another, and I take it. (Curiously, she never offers any to Mommy... I'm sure she just forgot.)

So.

Right.

Well.

I thought that we were still having to teach Piper the concept of sharing. ("No, Christian, that's MINE!!"). Apparently my daughter can teach me a thing or two about the subject.

Happy New Year!
B