Brother, can you spare a meatball?

Why don't take-out orders of spaghetti come with more meatballs?

Recently ordered a "large" spaghetti take-out dish ($8.99) from Mrs. Robino's in Wilmington. It comes with two meatballs. One for each kid eating with my group.

Fine and well. (The kids thoroughly enjoyed their homemade pasta; I tried it and thought it was good too - actually much better than I remember - though the spaghetti was boiled a bit longer than I like.)

But when it comes to meatballs, you gotta be quick. Can't tell you how the meatballs tasted, because, well, let's set the scenario:

Both kids are sitting at the kitchen table about to tear into their plates of spaghetti. (See photo.) All was right in the world. But then Kid No. 2 (to the right) accidentally knocks his meatball to the floor.

No big deal. Just pick it up, rinse it off, cover with more sauce and all is better, right? (Please, save the gross-out speeches. Brushed-off food is the dirty-secret of parenthood.)

Wrong.

In this house, you gotta be faster than the dog. Meatball hits the floor. Oddie, a very large, Newfoundland mix, licking his chops and lurking near the table, seized a golden opportunity and gobbled that meatball quicker than Homer Simpson scarfs down doughnuts. MAN, can that dog hoover meatballs! (We think he may have even sucked it down mid-air.)

Moral of the story: Always order extra meatballs. Especially if you have a ravenous Newfoundland.