'Mom! Why did you take the last brownie!?' I could hear my five-year-old squawk as she careened through the dining room toward my chair. I was caught red-handed. I had indeed taken (and in fact eaten) that last brownie from the pan in the kitchen at 3 pm on a Monday afternoon. The very last one. 'I wanted it,' I responded. My 35-weeks-pregnant self went for the brownie without a second thought, and I felt zero remorse over it.

Why did I take the last brownie? Maybe it was because I never get the best piece of anything. I always give the middle brownie to my husband. The kids get equal splits over most of what's left. Everyone else gets their dinner plate before I do, and my food is often cold by the time I sit down to eat it. The last bits of just about anything to eat always go to the kids first- unless my husband gets to it before anyone else notices. I never choose where we go if and when we go out to eat someplace. I'm fine with going wherever everyone else will be happy. Spoken like a mom, right?

Call it self-love, if you will, but I'm completely over feeling like we as moms can't have the last piece of brownie or the best of something for once. Is it selfish? I don't know... I guess it depends on whether or not you feel that allowing yourself an indulgence every once in a while after eleven years of constantly sacrificing so your husband and kids can have 'the best' is selfish. I'm not frivolous, but if I want something for myself within a reasonable price range, I'm going to get it, because I feel as though I deserve it. When you're the one who makes Christmas, birthdays, back to school, appreciation gifts, and every other holiday celebration and vacation under the sun happen without complaint, what's a little treat every now and then?

I'll soon have a new baby strapped to my chest 24/7 while recovering from surgery, and navigating how to care for my older two kiddos, and running my business, while my husband is working his day job, and heading out of town for rehearsals and concerts in the evenings and on the weekends. I'm not sure how it's going to work- I just know that it has to. So yes, I feel that I'm entitled to that last brownie every now and then, and mama- so are you! Go on and enjoy it. There's always another day to make a new batch and serve up warm to your family, with a heaping teaspoon of your love for them.