No Cookies for YOU!

Everything started off so well today.

I got up, made the bed, washed or brushed all the important things (no point in a shower since I was heading to work out), got the kids up, dressed, and fed.  I dropped Tucker off at school and Sara and I headed to the Y. I saw my friend Kristine for the first time this week and managed to finally give her the birthday card I got her just under a month ago. I had a great workout and after a quick stop back at the house, Sara and I headed for a much overdue trip to the commissary. 

The commissary trip was going so well. I had my coupons organized and everything. Sara was being awesome, very patiently waiting to go by the bakery counter and see if she could get a free cookie. 

We got to the bakery counter and my least favorite worker was back there. Of the three we see back there, she seems to be the least kid-centric. The deal with the kids and I over the free cookies is this: the sign has to be posted, they have to ask politely for the cookie themselves, they absolutely have to say thank you without being prompted, and the bakery is our last stop before we check out.

The sign was up and we were done shopping, so we walked up to the counter. Every third or fourth trip, I buy something from the bakery too, mostly because adults don't get free cookies. ::Sad face::

The lady asked what I wanted, I ordered, and Sara asked for a cookie. The lady didn't respond or give her one, so I just thought she didn't hear Sara. So, I asked for her and was told that they didn't have the free cookies today. Which, really, if you think about it, isn't it kind of odd for a bakery to be out of cookies by 11 am?

Sara, who really has behaved so patiently until this point collapses to the floor and starts to cry. She has a point, the free cookie sign was posted. I know it's not the end of the world if she doesn't get a cookie, but it wouldn't have killed least-friendly-bakery lady to be a little more gentle about it. Or to have taken the sign down when the cookies ran out, failed to appear, or ceased to be an option.

I tell Sara that we'll figure something else out and ask her to please stop crying. She gets up off the floor and we move on even though she's still upset. I feel for her, I really do.

I offer instead to let her choose a Lunchable because hey, if you can't kill your kids with sugar, why not with processed lunch meats and sodium?!? Yay! Everybody wins!

I love it when a plan comes together!

Check this out!

The kids and I made cookies after school yesterday.

I wasn't sure at all how yesterday would go. Sara is attending two different preschools at the moment. The morning one meets three times a week, the afternoon one meets every day. I was worried about getting her from one to the other, mainly because she wants to ride the bus. While we have plenty of time to get her from school one to home in order to meet the bus, it doesn't leave a lot of time for her to eat lunch.

The easy solution (and I'm sure Sara's preferred one) would be to grab something quick. However, as a mom who struggles every day with weight and issues, I prefer a healthy lunch. She has a busy schedule she needs fuel, not fat and salt and sugar disguised as food in brightly colored bags or boxes. I readily admit that I give my kids fast food. I hope that by teaching them how to eat all sorts of food, they can avoid the struggles that I have when they get older. And that basically boils down to portion control and moderation.  So while I don't mind the occasional kids meal, at least one part of it needs to be somewhat nutritious. Chicken nuggets with apple fries? Do-able. Grilled chicken sandwich with fries? Manageable. Tucker can actually eat an adult sized meal with no problem. He has the metabolism to burn it off right now, but he won't always. So it's worth the battle to keep him at a kids sized meal (which is plenty big) and then let him supplement with additional fruits or vegetables.

Yesterday, Sara had a bean burrito for lunch...well, what she'd eat of it. She was too excited to eat much and was worried that she's miss her bus. As she was (literally) hopping on the bus, she asked me if we could make cookies that afternoon.

Heck yeah! I LOVE to bake. Everything about it is soothing to me. The kids are at the perfect age for helping me bake too, and I love having stuff to do that doesn't involve spending tons of money, watching TV, or eating crap. I love that you can work in a math lesson or two without it sounding like you are trying to work in a math lesson or two.

By the time the kids' bus was due, I was excited to hear about their days and to get started with the baking. I heard the bus coming, and went outside to meet them......only to find out that Sara would be on the second bus drop off about thirty five minutes later. Oooops. Parental fail. I assumed the school would put the preschoolers on the same bus as K-2. But they didn't.

So, 35 minutes later, Tucker and I were hanging at the bus stop waiting for Sara. This is going to work out beautifully! Every day I'm going to get 35 minutes with just me and Tucker. He's a great sport (most of the time) about not getting tons of one on one attention. So the fact that we can have this time every day makes me incredibly, blissfully happy. I still have two mornings a week with just Sara, so she is in no way being left out.

Sara got off the bus, no worse for the wear. I was concerned that she would be upset that Tucker wasn't on her bus, but she was with the big kids, so she was in hog heaven. They all think she's so cute, and I'm not going to say or do a thing to ruin that image.  ::snort!::

We walked back home, got right to the cookie making, and finished up right as R was walking in the door. I was pleased that this recipe for oatmeal cookies turned out so well, because the recipe has changed on the oatmeal container since the last time  made them. Guess I should have written the old one down, huh? But I pretty much remembered it, so all was well in the end (and yes, I wrote it down this time.)

I wish that smell-o-vision and taste-o-vision were available because these bad boys turned out as well as I've ever had cookies turn out.

YUM!