Midnight Snacker

When Brian and I were little (so little that we were still sharing a room and sharing it with Charles), we would sometimes wake up in the wee hours of the morning, starving. We would sneak out of bed, creep through the living room and dining room in the dark, and into the kitchen. We’d open up the refrigerator door, squinting into its automatic light, and search for the prize…individually plastic-wrapped slices of American cheese! We loved these things, and, more importantly, we could reach them. We’d then scurry back to our room, fold our slices into four squares, as any good kid will do, and nibble away. When finished, we’d oh-so-cleverly hide the wrappers under Charles’ crib! I’m not sure why we thought we needed to sneak our snack or hide the evidence, since I’m sure Mama would have fixed us something if we’d asked, but maybe it was just more fun to feel like mischievous midnight snackers. Mama has mentioned in more recent years, however, that she sure wishes we would have left our wrappers out in more visible locations, since she didn’t necessarily notice them under Charles’ crib just right away!

Anyway…not since then have I woken up in the middle of the night to eat. But, ladies and gentlemen, the midnight snacker has returned. I now awake regularly to my stomach in knots, begging for a little snack, right now. Attempts to ignore this gastrointestinal plea are useless: I just end up wide awake and still hungry. There’s no American cheese around the house these days, but I've found that NutriGrain Bars make a pretty good substitute. Now…where to hide the wrappers?