Caught Red-Handed, or Should I Say, Hand-in-Cookie-Jar?

My kids are teenagers now, and one would think they'd be over the sneaky snacking stage. But last night, I caught my daughter in the act of stuffing a handful of cookies into her mouth, trying to hide them behind her back. She looked so guilty and caught off guard that I couldn't help but laugh instead of scolding her. 'Mom,' she stammered, 'I swear these aren't from your stash! They're from my friend!' Yeah, sure they are. And then it hit me - I was the one who left a pack of those chocolate chip cookies on the counter just for moments like this. Now that I think about it, maybe she wasn't trying to sneak them after all. Maybe she wanted me to catch her. Let's just say the evening ended with us both laughing and sharing our secret stash of sweets.