Yesterday my son reminded me that the school bake sale was today and I was supposed to supply 30 large cookies to support the fundraiser. As I sat there considering all of the other "more important" and pressing things I needed to do, I considered just buying three dozen cookies in the grocery store bakery and sending those. A co-worker commented that I was "one of THOSE moms", the ones who just buy the Oreo's and deliver them. I felt guilty and ashamed but undaunted. I didn't have time to stop everything and bake cookies. I am a busy woman!!
I shrugged off the ugly comment and went ahead with my plans. I headed home, then after homework was completed, track practice finished and dinner eaten I had a break to run to the store and procure my cookies.
That is when I caved. On the way to the store I remembered the Nestle Tollhouse commercials of my childhood. For those of you in the X, Y or Z generation this might be unheard of, but Nestle used to advertise for their morsels. Did you catch that? Just commercials about their chocolate chips, not the dough or the cookies but the morsels. In the commercials the mom would be stirring a giant bowl of cookie dough and the children would loving pour the morsels in and everyone would smile and laugh. Then they pulled the cookies out of the oven and everyone sat around a table and ate them with a large glass of milk. It was the picture of family perfection.
As I got older the commercial changed. The mom was now a "working mom" ergo no apron or large batch of homemade cookies but a log of prepared cookie dough. She cut the dough and placed it on the cookie sheet. They came out of the oven and a child with friends in tow ran through the kitchen grabbing a cookie or three on their way out the door.
Again as I got older the commercial changed again. This time the dough was separated into tiny pieces that could be broken off and set on the cookie sheet. Apparently now we don't even have time to cut the dough off the log. The cookies aren't enjoyed by a family but just one or two friends.
I started to think, did Nestle have their finger on the pulse of the nation or what? They have adapted to the hurried lives we now lead. Since when did making a batch of cookies become more of a chore than it was worth? The time spent and enjoyed by families is no more. It has been contorted and condensed into an act that can be accomplished with little effort. Now I really felt like dirt. I had become one of "THOSE" moms after all, I placed a higher importance on everything else and put my family at the bottom of the list.
It was late and I knew it would take the better part of the night to accomplish, but I walked proudly down the baking aisle and bought MORSELS. This morning when I dropped my boys off at school and handed him the three dozen cookies I had spent most of the night preparing, I was happy, tired but happy.
Take a few hours and slow down. Spend the time where it will be appreciated more by the ones who really matter. Bake some cookies and drink some milk, laugh, love and find the joy in family.
Until next time...
