Tricks of the Trade

I’m not even referencing the normal arguments it brings in its wake. (Does “He has more than me!” “Her milk is more chocolaty than mine!” “I want the white bowl!” “She’s looking at me!” sound familiar?) Oh, no, I’m talking about next-level issues.

Baruch Hashem, I have a houseful of mostly shul-attending boys who don’t eat before davening, so the Shabbos cereal-eating time gets a bit more complicated. We eat right when they come home from shul, so in the summer months, it becomes Seudah Shlishis, and in the winter, it’s Melaveh Malkah.

But the real issues start when they forget to have their cereal on time. Enter the cereal-bowl currency negotiations.

It goes like this: “I don’t want to eat this plate of chicken, rice, and salad. Instead, I’ll cash in the bowl of Shabbos cereal I didn’t have three weeks ago, please.”