M&M's, I'm mental, I know

Since our days are a mixture of pbs kids, legos, swimming, outings, crafts, some math/writing, pestering, and various degrees of pestering each other, I don't find as much time to either take pictures or blog about our happenings. But I mentioned a while ago about my odd M&M eating habit, although it's more like a ritual, so I thought I'd share.

A while ago my sil Jen posted about how towels are folded around her house. She and Ed differed in their techniques, and so the towels were often mis-matched. She asked how we all fold ours, and I responded by saying: it depends. I fold my towels differently for each drawer, stack, bar, and pile around my house. But always the same way for each location, Eric doesn't even try to keep up with me on this one.

A similar survey occurred with Eric's mom, only this time she was wondering how we ate our oreos. Now, oreos aren't my favorite cookie (sacrilege to some), so I had to really think: how do I eat them? Eric likes to dip his in milk and then put the whole thing in his mouth; his dad likes to drop 4 or so into a glass and then drink them. Aidan likes to twist his apart and then eat them. Some like to break theirs in half and then eat one half at a time. And everyone else just eats them. Me, I've got no set way, sometimes I twist mine apart. But when I do, I like to make sure that each half has the same amount of filling. I also like to break mine in half, trying to get them equal. And sometimes I just eat them one bite at at time. I don't ever dip mine in milk (eww, soggy cookies), and my mouth isn't big enough to put one in whole comfortably.

But then come candies like skittles, m&m's, and reese's pb bites. Here is where I truely shine, thanks to my mom. I prefer m&m's and reese's to skittles, but the same policy applies. I usually eat a couple right away (probably because I don't want my kids to see me eating them, since they'd make me share). But then, the real magic begins, or insanity, it all depends on your point of view. I will do one of two things, both beginning with my counting up how many of each color I've got. Then I will sort them by color and either group them by amounts, or else I will make lovely patterns with them (geometric of course).

When I eat them, if I grouped by color, I either eat one color at a time or eat enough of the colors until they all have the same amount in them, and then eat one of each color to maintain equality. Or, if I made a pattern, I eat them systematically to maintain the pattern as it gets gradually smaller.

Unfortunately for me, having a tease for a husband, and four little beggar children, I don't often get to make lovely patterns anymore. But when I do, they are a wonder!

So, how do you eat your m&m's?