I'll take a scoop shovel.

For as long as I can remember (or ever since my mouth was big enough) I have used a BIG spoon to eat my cold cereal with. I use a regular sized spoon for everything else, but I love to have a big spoon for breakfast cereal. Maybe it's to get a good amount of milk to balance out the cereal...I really don't know why. I've just always done it. But I've also been embarrassed about it, and don't really do it at other people's houses. First of all, I don't have a very big mouth so it probably looks funny as I eat. Second, ladies are supposed to take small bites anyway, right?

One time at Kenny's house I got myself a big spoon for breakfast and my sweet mother-in-law came in the kitchen and handed me a small spoon and said, "Oh we've got a better size here, you don't have to use that huge one." She didn't know that I obviously saw the little ones sitting right next to the big spoons in the utensil drawer, but I deliberately grabbed a big one. But I didn't say anything except thanks, and switched for a small spoon to finish off my bowl.

Fast forward to a few months ago when I was staying with my Grandpa and Grandma Joyce. One morning as Joyce was getting out some dishes and food for breakfast, she casually asked me if I wanted a spoon, or a scoop shovel. (I assumed she meant the larger spoons.) I smiled and said a spoon, not wanting to show my true colors. She then told me that my grandpa always uses the big spoons. I was so glad to hear that. Later that evening when we were having ice cream for dessert, I was helping get it all out and I asked if I should get a big spoon for my grandpa to use. "Oh no," she said, "he only uses the scoop shovel for cereal. He likes the smaller ones for everything else." I just about died. Unbeknownst to her, she just solved that problem for me forever. I never knew that about my grandpa, but I all of the sudden felt so happy that I got that little quirk from my grandpa--one of my most favorite people in the world. I think it's so bizarre that we have that in common. Can you seriously blame that on genetics? Couldn't have been nurture, I didn't grow up around him. It doesn't matter though. I now feel pride, not shame at this weird spoon thing I have. So the next time she asks if I would like a spoon or a scoop shovel, I'll proudly take the scoop shovel.