Yours, Mine, and Ours

Every family has snacking rules.
But I never thought much about the differences until this week when a new set of kids spent some time in my house.

The Elder Son's best friend has been coming over as his older sister is our chaperone this week. I gave the general rules of the house (running is for outdoors, don't set anything on fire...), left emergency phone numbers, and pointed out all the places they could look for food for lunch and snacks.

"Pretty much, if you can find it, you can eat it," I said.

In my head, that line means, Don't go hungry. If one sandwich isn't enough to fill you up, have two. If you want a snack later, help yourself to chips.

Yeah.
My children pointed out the flaw in my thinking the minute I returned from work.

"They ate all the Twinkies!"

Apparently, I am totally blind to the fact that other families teach their children that snacking is a competitive sport. The goal is to eat as many snacks as you can. Whoever eats the last one of anything wins.

My kids know that they can have one dessert. Choosing which one they want is sometimes difficult.
When they snack, they pour a handful of chips into a bowl and stop when that bowl is empty.

Please understand that my kids are all for sharing.
While they may horde their Halloween candy like pirates horde gold in buried treasure chests, they've both cheerfully given their friends a portion of their treats. They've even bought their friends candy at the movies.... and that's pretty darned expensive!

But when this friend and his sister snarfed up most of a box of Twinkies, my two boys were next to mutinous.

"She ate one before lunch!" Elder Son shouted.

Scandilous!

"I've seen him get an ice cream treat out of the freezer, eat it, and go right back and get another one!"

Scoundrel!

So, yesterday, my two boys plotted where to hide the family treats.
It didn't matter if it was a box of Little Debbie snack cakes that the husband bought or one can of soda that the Younger Son won at a summer school event three weeks ago. Things each of them had previously guarded with a hardy "That's mine!" was suddenly *ours*.  Yet, things they would have happily shared with a stranger were suddenly off limits to these friends.

I realize I'll have to re-word my food-related instructions.

And hide my chocolate.