Kid- "daddy, can I have a cookie"
Me- " If I didnt polish em off last night after you went to bed, because daddy can. But I left you plenty of veggies in the fridge

."
Ok seriously,...Kiddos know the rules on snacks..they never know when their getting them. I prefer random reinforcement myself. Rarely are they allowed to ask for em. Which seems to work, because rarely do they. And somehow my 4 yr old will ask for seconds at dinner, snub her nose at the ribs, but grab the whole bowl of veggies and polish every last bite off..frequently. Since when do kids prefer veggies over everything else?..this is the one that screamed bloody murder until she was allowed to hold the bowl of popcorn and double fist it
through the whole movie as a baby.....