The Big Sneaky

So this morning I woke up wondering why it was so quiet in my house. Were the kids sleeping? (Was I dreaming?) As I walked down the hallway noticing that Caleb and Camille's beds were empty, I realized that I had left a bag of cupcakes on the top shelf of the refrigerator. Surely my children weren't hiding somewhere eating them...

Then I saw it: The refrigerator door was wide open and the bathroom step stool was right in the way. And, you guessed it, the cupcakes were gone.

I called for the kids and traced their munching and giggles to Caleb's room. There they were, the two sneaks. Not only had they taken the cupcakes (did I mention they were chocolate?), but they had taken the container of frosting (of course) and three containers of yogurt (chocolate...bought for mom to be eaten by mom). They were hiding between the bed and the wall munching - and making a pretty sizable mess (did I mention the cupcakes were chocolate?).

When the kids heard me coming, they promptly hid the goods (of course) under the bed so they wouldn't get in trouble. Sadly for them, their mom is slightly wiser than they thought. She just happened to be the #1 food sneaker in the Stern household growing up, only she was smart enough not to eat it in the bedroom.

So that was their breakfast - a cupcake (did I mention it was chocolate?) and a yogurt apiece. They had to help clean up the mess (I sure hope we got all the crumbs because the last thing we need is a batch of ants coming to clean up the rest) and then clean Caleb's room top to bottom since their friend McKenna was coming over to play this morning.

I thought it was over. I thought my lecture about why we don't sneak food and why we don't eat in our rooms got through to Caleb. After all, he's almost five, right?

Wrong!

After lunch I put Camille down for her rest time and then went to go put Caleb down. He called out to me, "You don't need to put me to bed." I should have questioned it. Instead I counted myself fortunate to start my rest time so early (like I really get a rest time, ha!)...then Caleb's door opened and out he stepped. "Mom, can I have a napkin?" Why did he need a napkin?

To clean up the remainder of his ice pop, of course. Thanks to Nana and Papa, we have a freezer full of those cheap ice pops in the plastic tubes. Caleb had helped himself to one and proceeded to eat it in his bed. Now his sheets are covered with red juice and I've already washed them once this week. Is it too early to teach Caleb to do his own laundry?

I should go check and make sure Camille doesn't have anything hidden in her room!