COOKIES!!!

Oh rainy day.  Once upon a time I would look forward to a rainy day.  I could sleep in and listen to the drops on the roof then curl up with a warm blanket, grilled cheese and tomato soup, and a soap opera.  Now I hear rain and think “Oh no, rain!  That means no outside time!  AAAHHHHH!!!!”.  

After making the girls breakfast I sat on the couch sipping a cup of coffee, thinking about what we could do.  How do I educate and entertain today?  Mmmmmm….  Coffee.  I am one of those people who MUST have my morning coffee.  A lot of coffee…  Anyway, we could go down to the basement playroom but I hate taking them out of the little bit of sunlight that there is shining through the rain clouds.  We could go to the mall and play at the little recess area, but it is likely that everyone else had that same idea and it will be too busy.  I truly am not a germ-a-phobe but when we go to the mall I can’t help but to notice the snotty nosed kids and wonder if they ever clean the stuff kids are playing on.  So, back to the drawing board…  What to do, what to do.  We could go to Target?  I love Target, but it’s no fun when I have no extra $ to spend so that’s a no go.  Then Gwen started bringing me items from the pantry:

She brought me a can of Spam and said “Make cake!”. 

She brought me Stove Top Stuffing…  “Make Cake!”. 

She brought me the jar of peanut butter… “Make cake!”…

Hmmmm…  We just had cake for my father-in-law’s birthday last week so how about cookies?   

Of course she said yes.    

We started to make the cookies and then I realized that we were out of vanilla and low on butter.  CRAP!  I don’t know how important vanilla is.  I thought about making the cookies without vanilla but I was planning to send ½ of them to a friend so I didn’t want to risk it.  So, to the store we go!  Yay….

Now remember, it’s raining.  I have an 8 month old and a 2 year old.  Needless to say, a cart is necessary.  We got a good parking spot next to the cart return stall.  We got a good parking spot but it was raining so all of the carts were wet.  This made things tricky.  I had to get the girls into the store and then PRAY that there was a dry cart in the store.  First I unbuckled Gwen and told her to crawl over to Reese’s side of the van.  Even if it wasn’t raining, I do not trust Gwen to understand the danger in a parking lot at 25 months old.  We have told her, but she is still like that dog in the movie “Up” where it sees a squirrel and runs after it.  Well, she could see a variety of about a million and a half things and bolt without thinking it through.  That is simply what a 25 months old does:  they don’t think too much, they act on their emotions.  That’s why it’s called the terrible twos because they are learning how to deal with all of these new things: anger, jealousy, pain, happiness, excitement, etc… and they are learning the appropriate ways to express these emotions.  So although I have explained danger to her, she doesn’t fully understand and I can’t expect her to.  Anyway, back to the scene in the grocery store parking lot.  Moral of the story, I have to figure out how to CARRY both girls into the store because it is raining.  If it wasn’t raining I could hold Gwen’s hand but at her speed all 3 of us would be drenched if I let her walk!  

I opened the door on Reese’s side of the van and unbuckled Reese.  I had my purse over my left shoulder and Reese on my left hip.  I squatted down and had Gwen climb up onto my right hip and I pushed the button to close the van door.  With a kid on each hip I proudly walked into the store, we did it!  At times like these I find myself singing the Dora “We did it!” song in my head.  

And then the moment of utter disappointment…  every cart is dripping wet.  I was not about to put my kids in a wet cart.  Well, we only needed butter and vanilla so I thought to myself “We can do this” and walked into the store with Reese on my left hip while leading Gwen with the owl rope.  Ok, I guess I should explain the owl rope.  It is actually a water bottle holder with a shoulder strap but it works perfect to have Gwen hold the owl and for me to hold the strap so I can lead her around the store.  Right now it works.  Tomorrow it may not work.  It will work until she realizes she has free will to let go of the owl if she wants to.

So there we were, walking through the store for our 2 items we needed to make cookies.  As we pass the cookie aisle I was very tempted to just buy some cookies and end the chaos of making them, but no…  this was our big activity for the day so although it had already ended up being about 1000 times harder than I expected, I had to follow through for Gwen.  Reese can’t eat cookies yet, poor thing!  

When we check out I was delighted to see that the self check-out lanes were open.  Reese is 8 months old and therefore every stranger who remotely looks in her direction results in crying bloody murder for the next 5 minutes.  Gotta love stranger anxiety!  (Can you sense my sarcasm?!)  So needless to say, we try and avoid contact with strangers.  Once checked out, my purse is over my left shoulder with Reese on my left hip and now how to get Gwen up on my right hip?  Hmmm….  Ok, time to put on my big girl panties and prove how strong I am to myself.  I kneeled down on my right knee doing a lunge.  Gwen climbs on, then it takes all my might but I find the strength and the balance to stand up with one kid on each hip.  Gee wiz, who knew I would get such a work out going to the grocery store for 2 items!?  

Ok, so we have our vanilla and butter and have arrived back home.  I was drenched.  Not in rain, in sweat!  It is not easy carrying them both all over the place.  The double stroller simply does not fit into all doorways so that was not an option.  Time to make some cookies!  Oh wait, why is everyone crying?!  Reese is hungry, Gwen wants to make cookies, the dog wants to go outside, and I just want to locate my cup so I can have some more COFFEE!  I had to feed Reese and turn on a cartoon and find a binky for Gwen to make the tears stop flowing.  I fed Reese and look down and Gwen has fallen asleep in her chair.  Then as I was holding and trying to burp Reese she also fell asleep.  Guess it’s time to turn off the oven for the second time now…  I lay Reese down in her crib and get Gwen’s monitor out of her room and hook it up in the living room and also turned on Reese’s monitor and decided it was time for this momma to shave my legs.  What a refreshing hot shower… ALONE… with no little eyes watching.  A rare thing, for sure.  

Then Gwennie woke up, cookie time!  We started mixing things together and Reese woke up very unhappy.  My girls typically wake up from naps just like me: a bear coming out of hibernation.  She wanted to be held.  So, I put on the baby carrier and wore her.  I had 2 free hands to make cookies with Gwen and Reese is happy to be held.  Everyone wins!  Ok, back to making cookies for the 50^th time.  I mixed the batter and thought I would do it a little differently and poured the cookie batter into a muffin tin.  The truth is, I have had this tiny muffin tin since Christmas and have been dying to use it on something so why not make little cookie muffins?!  I know, I am weird because I was dying to use my muffin tin.  Just as I was weird a few weeks ago to make a Thanksgiving turkey in May just so I could try out the turkey roaster I got for Christmas.  Mmmmm…. Turkey sandwiches!  

It turns out that it is very difficult to see past Reese’s head to be able to see where I am putting the cookie dough in the tin.  Tricky business when wearing a little one!  As I was soooooo focused on hitting the muffin liners with the spoonfuls of cookie dough and trying to not dip Reese’s bare feet in cookie dough in the process, my eyes weren’t exactly directly on Gwen sitting at the table.  I was standing 5 feet away and thought she was just PRETENDING to be cooking at the table….  I look over and can’t help but to break out in laughter at Gwen covered in baking soda!  It was EVERYWHERE!  All over the table, the chair, the floor, and Gwen.  My first thought was our dog Molly and if baking soda was bad for her, so I simple shut the bedroom door where Moll’s was napping to keep her out of the kitchen until I could clean up the mess.  One problem solved.  I was NOT about to add a trip to the animal hospital to the list of things to do today!  

 

Now it’s time to put the cookies in the oven, but wait!  I am still wearing Reese!  Ok, remove the baby from the carrier, she started crying, Gwen was crying because I wouldn’t let her help me put the cookies in the oven…  I restrain Gwen in her high chair to keep her from killing herself fighting to get to the oven to “help”, then I can finally put the cookies in the oven, put baby back in carrier, take Gwen out of high chair, set timer, and…. Repeat 3 times for 3 batches. 

 

Moral of the story: Nothing is ever as easy as it once was, before kids.  But most things are more rewarding and more enjoyable now that I have my audience of tiny “helpers”.  Our first batch of cookies came out of the oven at around 3:30pm.  Yes, it took us from 8am until 3:30pm to make cookies.  And I wouldn’t have it any other way.  You think that took a long time?!  You should see how long it takes to fold one basket of laundry with my “little helpers”!  Love it!  Enjoy these special moments’ mommies, for the days are long but the years are short!