Yesterday, the boy and I were about to share a bowl of oatmeal. When I say "share," I generally mean that there's one bowl with two spoons, and I maybe get in a bite or two before I am reminded of just how much saliva children manage to get all over their food. Then it turns into me supervising him, making sure minimal amounts of oatmeal make it into his hair.

Occasionally, I'll notice that he's putting too much oatmeal on his spoon. This often results in oatmeal getting on the table or on his clothes. To avoid this, I'll use my spoon to knock the contents off his spoon back into the bowl. He doesn't love it when I do that, so I keep it light by saying a Simpsons-inspired "Yoink!" when I do it. That word makes him smile.

Back to yesterday. I got the bowl out of the microwave and sat down at the table. I gave him his spoon as I stirred the oatmeal around to make sure it wasn't too hot. A moment after I scooped some up on my spoon to try it, he reached out with his free hand and, pulled the oatmeal off of my spoon with his fingers. He looked up at me and proudly said, "NOINK!"

Then he rubbed his hand on his shirt to clean it off.