Food poisoning -- a family tradition!

I just gave two children a stern, solemn lecture on the dangers of salmonella poisoning from the raw eggs that go into the chocolate-chip cookie batter, selflessly protecting them from licking the bowl or beaters of the batch we'd just mixed up. Then, as soon as they were safely out of the room and down the hall, I chomped a generous spoonful of the dough. In fact, I got my secret stash of chocolate chips out of hiding and sprinkled them on the dough in the bowl, so I could have a bite of batter with chocolate but didn't deprive the cookies of any needed chips.

My mother used to "protect" me in the same way. I don't know which of us is worse. She really didn't know about salmonella, and so just told my sisters and me something vague about raw cookie dough being "unhealthy." And chased us out of the room as the cookies were about to go onto the cookie sheet and into the oven. Just like me. But at least I'm telling my kid the actual factual truth. True, I'm also hogging the batter. If the karma police are on duty, and I have the feeling they are, I'll eventually keel over, attacked by a bad egg, and my sins will confess themselves. My son will be doubly traumatized by my early demise and the realization of my deception. And I bet he still grows up to eat raw cookie dough.