Making Cookies

DuckyBoy came home with a book made by his class, "Things We Like - Things That Make Us Happy." (It was only supposed to be titled the second part, he said, but A., one of the girls in his class, wrote the other as well. About which he was obviously still.slightly.peeved! Haha.)

Anyway, for some reason several pages showed mommies making cookies and kindergarten spellings, "I lik wen Mom bks cukeez." (Say it out loud.)

We read the book together and one of us commented about the multiples of the same thing and DuckyBoy says, "You never bake cookies."

Oh! Ohhhh! OHHH! I had to shelve that jab, which I know he didn't mean as a jab, just as his perception. So, it arose this morning in the shower, when I am thinking that I need to bake cookies today for tomorrow's bake sale.

It's true, I don't bake many cookies. For the fall bake sale I -- we -- made marshmallow-Cheerio pumpkins. And I made the Groundhog Day cookies after he went to bed one night.

Now, I love to bake and eat cookies, and I grew up loving that my mom baked cookies. So why don't I? Let me count the ways.

1. Because Daddy and I will eat most of the cookies I bake, and our waistlines don't need them.

2. Because cookies are not something I need to worry about you eating. You will eat, or at least consider trying, any cookie baked by anyone and I don't know that homemade-by-me gets any extra points in your book. You obviously know you needn't worry about getting any nutrition from cookies. And surprisingly enough there are plenty of shelf-stable baked goods without dairy ... Teddy Grahams being chief among them.

3. Because I'm too busy making the rest of your special-order diet, or thinking about what to get you to try next. Between the sensory/control issues and the dairy-free, I think about food, YOUR food, way more than is normal for a mom of a child your age. I haven't yet had time to thumb through the Jessica Seinfeld cookbook, but sneaking pureed veggies into brownies just doesn't thrill me. I've got to get you to eat more real food first, then I can sneak something extra into the desserts as well.

* My freezer has 3 types of french fries. Partly because the SuperTots are actually made from vegetables other than potatoes and you eat them because they're alphabet shaped; partly because I consider it a score that you also eat McCain Smiles, as they are more mashed potatoey than regular fries.
* Chicken nuggets (currently stocked with 2 brands because one "tasted chewy" a week ago and now you eat no protein at all except however much is found in egg noodles and, of course, peanut butter);
* Oyster crackers with (Tofutti) cream cheese. At least we moved away from the faces -- made with sprinkles and half a Cheerio for the mouth -- compared to that, the sandwiches are less laborious. Is it any wonder I need a new eyeglasses prescription?! However, adding a layer of sprinkles because you like to call them Krabby Patties makes them way less fun for me as a labor of love for your health.

4. Because whenever I am baking, you'd much rather being doing something else. Is it the autism or a control thing? I don't know, but it would be more fun if you wanted to help me. I know you like to do this stuff.

Tell you what, my son whom I love. When I can regularly cook something for my dinner, and that is also what you eat for your dinner, then I can start to make you cookies.

Meanwhile, there is at least one cookie recipe we've talked about baking together. I don't know how well Sesame Crisps will go over for the bake sale, but the important thing is we will make them together.

Post-Bake Sale Update: The sesame cookies were a success -- the toughest mom even asked me for the recipe!! And, amazingly, I was able to remember it off the top of my head. Wow.