favorite booty

I feel like a pirate. 

After accompanying Bumble Bee (of the Transformers kind) and a Super Puppy (complete with cape and ears) on a night of door-to-door solicitations for candy on October 31st...I have confiscated the booty.  

No, I'm not THAT mean.  

I have hidden the treasure in a safe place, only to be tapped into when healthy portions of dinner have been consumed, and/or when deserving behavior or exceptional attitudes have been displayed.  (This includes Mommy pirate working out, and earning 2 of her faves:  3 Musketeers miniatures...ARGHH.)

But, being a mommy pirate means my children have inevitably inherited pirate genes.  

"Mom...where's the candy?"  Ethan asks me at dinner last night after his plate was literally licked clean.  

I smirked and raised my eye brows in a challenge of wills.  (Some pirates have been known to use pistols or brandish swords...I use my wits).  

Isaac chimes in.  "Mom, can I have some candy too?"  (His plate not clean AT ALL.)

"Well," I begin, folding my hands together under my chin, "it's in a safe place."  

Both boys give me looks as if to say, "hey...wait a minute...."  

Ethan does what he does best.  He whispers to Isaac to hunt for the candy while I'm cleaning up the dishes.  

"Aha!"  I spin and look at them at the table.  (I'm milking this for all it's worth, folks).  "No hunting for the candy...you'll never find it anyway..." I say this but I'm not so sure.  When my sons work together to find something, they are a formidable force.  

I manage to get them to trust me.  I will give them choices of candy for a treat, only if they let me keep the hiding place secret.  Deal, they say.  We shake on it.  

I sit with them and savor the moment as they savor their sweets.

No need to walk the plank.  There's peace among the ranks...for now.  

As much fun as it was to dress up on that chilly night, it is much more fun to use the candy gathered to teach lessons.  To trust Mom, to eat your dinner, and to remember than sometimes, it's the little things that are the sweetest treasures.

Ethan and Isaac are two of my faves.