Dear Indie,

I put a lot of effort into my Halloween trick-or-treating and came home with a major haul of candy. Way more than my older sisters, who are now officially teenagers and can’t be bothered to work on their costumes and stick to going door to door the way I do.

Last week when I came home from a soccer game in the mood for Skittles, I noticed my stash of candy was smaller than it should have been. That’s when my mom explained that while I was out she had decided to share my stash with my sisters because they didn’t get very much.

I can’t believe that my mom literally reached into my bag of candy and gave a bunch of it away to two people who didn’t work hard to get it the way I did. My mom says it’s important to keep the idea of Robin Hood in mind. But I think it was just rude.

SWEET ENOUGH, THANK YOU

Dear Sweet Enough,

Yours is a tough dilemma. Your mom wasn’t trying to be mean to you. She acted out of a love for your sisters only a parent can understand. Her sticky-fingered actions came from a mother’s heart and they don’t mean that she loves you any less.

But you should sit her down for a re-read of Robin Hood. It seems she’s remembering the plot wrong. The outlaw hero did not only steal from the rich to give to the poor, but led a systemic operation aimed at shifting the balance of power from the ruling class to the oppressed masses.

Now since you actually worked hard for your candy stash, you, my friend, seem to be part of the browbeaten proletariat. Meanwhile, your mother took a share of your earnings in an unrepresented act of taxation. (Remember this reference when you get to studying the American Revolution in history class.) She acted like the anti−Robin Hood. Nay, she was in fact the Sherriff of Nottingham!

You should also remind your mom that sibling relations are sometimes best left to the siblings to navigate, of course only after all sharp objects are removed from immediate reach. The right thing would be for your sisters to personally ask you for some of your candy. Mom can then talk to you about love, sharing, and selflessness and still let you make your own decision. Remind her that your teenage years are still to come and without some mutual boundaries she might find herself with a revolution on her hands.

Though not an actual doctor, Doctor Doublepenny is a skilled student of human nature. Send questions for Dear Indie to [email protected] or by mail to P.O. Box 1034, Provincetown, MA 02657.