Peanut Butter Cookies
It's been a busy week here-lots of writing, and lots of emails that had to be answered right away. My husband and I decided we needed to get back to working out-so me and the treadmill are friends again. Oh, I'm sore! I also have been texting a certain daughter who just left for college.
In the middle of it all, I wrote a note for a newsletter for mothers of preschoolers. I thought I'd share it with you below. It's about cookies and daughters and moving on. I'll share some writing and book info tomorrow…
Peanut Butter Cookies
Yesterday, I made peanut butter cookies for the first time in sixteen years. We first realized my daughter was allergic to peanut butter when she was around two. The peanut butter and graham snack that my son had loved so much made her skin break out into a rash.
Further investigation and tests revealed that she was indeed, allergic to peanuts and all peanut products. So those cookies became a thing of the past.
I can honestly say I didn't miss making them. When you're a mom, your kids' needs come first, especially health-related needs. It's just how it is. Soon I became adept at reading labels, staying away from certain Chinese restaurants, and asking waiters what kind of oil their chicken fingers were cooked in. Later, she became far better at navigating her food allergy than me. Which is how it should be, I suppose.
About a week ago, we dropped her off at college, Epi-pen tucked safely in her purse. She's all grown up now, and ready to take on the world-at least her freshman dorm. I'm not really sure where the last eighteen years went. It's all a mix of alarm clocks and laughter. Tears and sports schedules. Cheer tryouts and guitar lessons. And art classes. And Harry Potter books.
Which brings me back to the cookies. I had some girlfriends coming over last night and I was out of chocolate chips. I was just about to make snickerdoodles, the stand-by cookie around here…when I spied the jar of peanut butter.
And that's when I remembered I really like peanut butter. And I really like peanut butter cookies. For a moment, I still wasn't going to make them. I felt a little guilty. Like I was somehow betraying my daughter. Eighteen years of being a mom can do that to a woman, I guess.
But then I remembered that before I was a mom, I was just me. I had my own likes and dislikes and allergies, too. And sometimes those things should be celebrated-even if it's by baking something as simple as a cookie.
I have to admit that very first bite was heaven. It was also a nice reminder from God to remember how many gifts He gives to us moms. He gives us the strength to always put our children's needs first…and He also gives us those gentle reminders that we, too, our His children. Because before we were Moms, we, too, were once just little girls.
with blessings,
shelley
