Choco-Pine

            Time was running out. There was only a split second left to decide, this way or that. Why, oh why, I asked my tormented soul, did life put me in these situations of having to choose between the two most important people in my life?

          On the one hand my son – a creative genius living in his own world where he wrote the most amazing poems, stories and constructed intricate models at the drop of a hat. I’d seen him present an uncaring exterior to the world at large, but only a quiver in his lower lip and a slight moistness in his eye reflected his inner turmoil and conflicts. My daughter, on the other hand, the life and soul of our little family without whose ‘monkey’ tricks and antics, sombreness prevailed. She was the type who jumped up, brushed herself and carried on with a merry smile whenever life gave her a hard knock. This decision would favour either one or the other no way could it please both. One would be ecstatic, the other down in the dumps. As a mother I was only too familiar with these situations. I shuddered at the thought of having to coax the one out of the pits of gloom. 

          The oven was heated up, the batter was ready. Do I add cocoa and please my daughter or put in pineapple pieces as my son had requested? What usually tipped the scale in favour of the former was that I was a chocoholic myself.

          At this point, I did not want to add to my stress levels by having to decide this issue. Pondering over the situation I came up with a brainwave. The kids would be home in half an hour. The batter would perforce have to wait till then. Let the two of them battle it out and I would be ready with a handkerchief to console the loser. At least I wouldn’t be the villain of this episode. I did hope, however, that a decision would be reached and that my fussy taste buds would not have to savour a pineapple chocolate cake, if both wanted their way at any cost. The new creation could be called ‘choco-pine’, a first in the history of confectionary.

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