1 Mother 2 Another

So I had my Green Night the other night
(it was fabulous, by the way) and for a couple days leading up to
it the girls and I were baking yummy treats to set out for my
guests. We made banana bread and zucchini bread and chocolate chip
cookies and creamsicle cookies (yes they’re as good as they
sound) and it was a feast for the eyes.


I’d warned the girls that we were baking for Mommy’s
friends and I’d allow them to have one of everything, but the
rest would be for that night. Our final bit of baking was the
zucchini bread; it dries out quickly, so we were putting it in the
oven about two hours before my “party” was supposed to
begin, and Cora helped me every step of the way.


I closed the oven door and Cora stood there contemplatively,
staring into the oven from which yummy smells were already
beginning to emerge.

Cora turned to me. “Mommy, some day
could we bake some banana bread and zucchini bread and chocolate
chip cookies and creamsicle cookies – and eat them
ourselves?”


And let me tell you, there was not much hope in that voice: a bit,
perhaps, but the predominant overtone was resignation, as in,
“I know what the answer is but I can’t help myself
– I have to ask.”


I know we have a habit of making lots of foods and giving them
away; it’s one of our family’s love languages, and one
of the safest ways for me to enjoy baking without having all those
calories around the house. But when I see it through my patient
four-year-old’s eyes, I can see the poor cobbler’s kid,
looking at all the beautiful boots and sneakers while she walks
around barefoot.


Ok, maybe not that melodramatic, but you get the gist of it.


So I got down to Cora’s level and looked her in the eye and
said, “Baby, some day soon we can make a whole batch of
cookies and eat them all our selves. Just us. And not share with
anyone else. What do you think?”


A smile broke out on her face and she lit up with excitement.
“I think GOOD!” she said, jumping up and running off to
tell Maddie.


Then she turned and came back. “Well, maybe we’ll give
a few cookies away to friends. They’re such good cookies, we
should share them.”


That’s my baby.