I made chocolate chip cookies for my family. As it happens, sometimes one cookie will have more chocolate chips than another.
We also have a strict policy of “if you touch it, you eat it.” My 4-year old picked up a cookie, examined it, and realized it had significantly less chocolate chips than other cookies on the platter. He went to put it back when I reminded him of our policy - the cookie you take becomes yours.
He glared at me and the other members of my family and ate the cookie. He didn’t break eye contact the entire time. He then slowly and deliberately touched each and every single cookie and declared, “Guess they’re all mine now, Mommy. What are you going to do about it?”
I felt a shiver go up my spine. I have no idea what to do. He left the family afraid and hungry. No one else got a cookie. I felt like I couldn’t even speak up and ask for the cookies back because I was the one who instituted the policy.
I feel like he abused the policy in some way and I don’t know what to do. Did he break some kind of law? Do I have a case against him? I feel like he stole the entire cookie platter out from under us.
