cookies

I spent the morning at my mother-in-law's house baking cookies. It has become a tradition. The Monday after Thanksgiving, the ladies in the family meet at her house and we churn out chocolate chip and oatmeal raisin cookies, ginger snaps, sand tarts and cherry winks. It is a lot of fun but also tiring. We spend hours on our feet, mixing batter, putting cookie trays into the oven and sampling our wares.
I think that this year is the last year that I'll be able to leave Jem at home. Both boys have expressed an interest in baking and cooking. It is a natural thing for them to be curious about something that their mom does often. And they both love cracking eggs and pouring things into bowls. They want to watch me cook oatmeal and flip pancakes. And I don't let them help me that often. It is hard when I know that the mess will be larger or that some of the batter will fly out of the bowl because they still don't have control over their movements at times. But today I realize that I wanted to make cookies with them here at home. I know that they will enjoy it and that they will be so excited to see the cookies come out of the oven knowing that they had made them.  I think I might have a touch of the crazies because this idea sounds insane. But maybe if I let them help me more often it might become easier to see the beauty in spite of the mess. Maybe making cookies will teach them patience and obedience while it pushes me to give them grace. Or maybe it will be a disaster but at least there will be cookies at the end.

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