My kids have amazing self-control.

This year was the first time that I ever made Easter baskets for my kids. They've gotten chocolate bunnies before, but I've never gone all out. But for some reason this year I was feeling more creative and more generous, so I decided to give them a little something.

So I packed their baskets last night and left them on the kitchen table for them to discover this morning. I expected, with them being kids, that they'd dump everything out and explore the loot as soon as they saw them. But when I came downstairs I found this.

As soon as I got there they asked if they could take everything out and see what was inside. They had peaked inside when they first discovered the baskets, but that was as far as they went. When I asked them about it, they told me that they thought they should probably wait for me.

I praised them for their amazingly mature thinking, and let them dive in and explore (much to their delight.)

While they were trying to decide which treat was the most amazing and should be tried first, I asked if they had thought about eating any of it before I came downstairs. They both looked at me with shocked expressions and said "NO!" That was a Happy Mommy Moment right there. :)

Now, don't get me wrong. These two aren't always perfect, and this self-control wasn't a completely natural occurrence  It's definitely a skill that we've cultivated over the years. There was a time when leaving baskets like this out in the open for them to find would have resulted in me finding them face down on the carpet in a sugar coma.

Just a couple of years ago, in fact, we had this incident, when they decided to sneak downstairs and go to town on some leftover birthday cake. It was a lovely mess to clean up. (And a lengthy discussion about not sneaking down and getting into the refrigerator on their own.)

So yes, they've come a long way. :)