That was the question posed to me last night over dinner by my five-year-old. Was this a rhetorical question? Was it philosophical? Was it just the ramblings of a child?

Nope. It was a legitimate question based on my actions, and how I answered may surprise some of you moms out there. I was making sandwiches and I had one slice of cheese left. That was a conundrum for me since both my husband and daughter love cheese. There was no splitting the baby in half on this one. Neither my husband nor daughter argued over it on the front end because I made the executive decision without consulting them. My husband would have absolutely told me to give it to the girl. The girl would have suggested they share it.

Why then would I arbitrarily give the entire slice to my husband knowing the consequences-and potential wrath of my child? Lexi’s conclusion, stated with dramatic flourish, was that I love my husband more than her.

“Mommy, you love daddy more than me!”

Yes, Lexi, that’s right. I do.

“That’s not right. God said you should love your children more than your husband.”

No, there’s no data to back up that statement, Lexi.

“Well, you should love your husband and child the exact same.”

No, there’s nothing corroborating that evidence either. I explained that first and foremost, my love of God trumped my love for either of them! I heard no complaints there since she would say the same. I shared with her that I can love her more by loving her father first. Because if I loved her more and put her as the center of my universe, that wouldn’t be honoring my commitment to my husband.

Heavy stuff, I know. But at the end of the conversation, I asked if she knew how much I loved her. Did she ever doubt that I loved her? She answered that she knew that I loved her to pieces, which just goes to show the capacity we have as human being to love others.

No, I didn’t know making a decision over a slice of cheese would open the door to this conversation, but I am so thankful that it did. There have been so many times that I have put the needs of my child over my husband’s, and I don’t want that to be what I model for her. The easier thing to do is to love my child more-especially as a working mother when it seems that I have so little left to give. But I know that I can put God first, then my husband and then my daughter without making her feel less loved.

What do you think? Should I have sliced the cheese in half?