Let them have cake...and ice cream

“You can have some ice cream when you finish your dinner.”

I saw the look of consternation on my mother’s face.  Mom was all powerful in my house and she wielded that power with awesome force of will.  But my cousin Tina didn’t visit often and was obviously not intimidated. 

“I want dessert now!”

I couldn’t believe it.  She had done it.  She had thrown down the gauntlet.  The die was cast and she was crossing the Rubicon.  The import of this moment was not lost on me.  Even at five, I realized the ramifications if Mom allowed my 7 year old cousin to have dessert.  Think of the precedent it would set!  No more broccoli, no more brussel sprouts.   No more “Finish your plate” lectures.  From now on, I could have pie for an appetizer and eat the rest of my dinner only if I felt like it.  Soon, we wouldn’t need to buy dinner at all!  Mom would realize that dinner had become a moot point and our freezer would be full of Otter Pops and ice cream sandwiches.  I would be the most popular kid in school.  Kids would vie for my friendship and for dinner invites, knowing that veggies were a thing of the past, all thanks to the gumption of a seven year old Magellan, charting into the unknown seas of dessert innovation. 

“I will not be dictated to by a seven-year old child,” Mother pronounced. 

So much for pie and popularity.