My husband grew up in a "meat and potatoes" family, where dinner was prepared by his SAHM, who followed a strict weekly menu and dessert - most likely something homemade, sticky and very sweet - sometimes came first.

My brother and I, on the other hand, enjoyed our t.v. dinners (they also came with dessert!) lovingly placed on a fold-out tray in front, well, the television.

So, all things considered - though, our eating habits have changed and merged over the years - we are raising our children somewhere in the middle and semi-homemade.

I opened my 9-year-old daughter's lunchbox, reached in, pulled out a Twinkie and I just stood there, staring, with confusion written all over my face.

"What's wrong?"

My husband was hesitant to ask and patiently waited - as I disengaged my mental breaks - for a response.

"What's this?"

My poor husband was treading on dangerous ground, and he knew it.

"Uh, a Twinkie!?!"

I knew it was a Twinkie; what I was trying to figure out is how it got into my child's lunch bag?

I didn't pack it.

"Maybe she traded for it."

He called out to our daughter and - though, her response shocked me - her question was of no surprise to my husband.

"What's a Twinkie?"

I felt guilty - for the gazillionth time (yes, it's a number) - I felt like a sad excuse for a mother and sure that this moment was probably good for another hour of therapy;  I can hear my grown children now:

"She never let us have any fun...she was constantly telling us what to wear...what NOT to eat...I was the only 9 year-old-child who didn't know what aTwinkie was!"

What's a Twinkie...oh my gosh...have I actually denied my kids the childhood pleasure of at least...tasting a Twinkie?

My husband thought it was just par for the course, but - considering the fact that I immediately ran to the corner store and bought some, along with a box of Devil Dogs, just in case - that I was taking things way too seriously, again.

So, I looked up guilt in the dictionary.

Guilt - 1. the fact of having committed a breach of conduct.  2. a: the state of one who has committed an offense.  b: feelings of culpability esp. for imagined offenses, or from a sense of inadequacy.

Nope - guilty as charged - that about says it all and I bet Webster never had a Twinkie, either!