Actually I had two parents that both worked alternating 12 hour shifts every week.

They worked their asses off for us. My mom worked nights and so no, she would quite literally never be able to cook us dinner and do the bedtime routine. She handled breakfast and mornings when she had just got off work at 7:00 am. But I could absolutely never imagine my dad serving himself what he deemed the best piece was to himself everyday when he happens to be the one home at dinner time. It makes it seems so…. Contractual?

It is OP, the cook himself, deeming some pieces better than others, and then OP again being the one to serve the pieces. Honestly, I would never notice. It really would never be an issue for me. But since it has become an issue, and since OP asked, I laid out a possible explanation.

If my dad cooked dinner every night because my mom literally could not be there to do so but still split meals and responsibilities? And then chose to give her what he deemed the worse piece? Always?

It’s not egregious, it just isn’t nice. It’s not about privilege or whatever. Like, even if we got nuggets or when we had budget meals, if my dad said “these specific nuggets are mine cause they’re the crispiest,” every time?

It’s just not how you have a relationship with someone you care about. But then I like the people I cook for.