I used to think homemade gifts were cheesy. Not so much the afghans, baby sweaters and baby blankets because Granny made those kind of things for me and my children and I think they are beautiful. More like the cheesy poetry or worse still....cookies! When I was a full time stay at home mom, cookies were a past time. Need three dozen cookies for school? No problem, I'll just whip up a triple batch. That's three dozen for school, three dozen for the next church event and three dozen for the freezer in case someone drops over. Never, ever would store-bought cookies do as long as I had breath to breath. Cookies were not a gift, they were part of....well, they were part of life, something you had on hand.
Even after nearly two years, I still have not learned the art of managing my job and my home. And bake cookies? Haven't you tasted those delicious Lighthouse brand soft sugar cookies with one-half inch of delightful pink frosting? You want to talk bakers, let's talk about those AMAZING Keebler Elves! As much as may I yearn for fresh, hot-out-of-the-oven chocolate chip cookies, I just don't have the time or the energy to make them.
Along comes Valentine's Day. Unlike the past, when money was tight, and Valentine gifts were a bit more creative, this year I could have bought anything I wanted for my four Valentines. I shopped, I looked (ok, one afternoon in Kohl's...it's not like I'm good at managing my time), but I just couldn't find anything for Jim and Chase. I decided to bake them cookies. Monday night before they got home, I whipped up a 1.5 batch...just couldn't see myself staying awake until with a full double batch was baked. A triple batch? I'd still be baking today! I mixed and baked, and finally packaged my simple homemade gift. I was tired. I'd had a long day on my feet at school, and standing on the tile in my kitchen makes my legs ache a bit more. But the gift of cookies felt so much more significant to me than ever before because I gave up an evening of reading my book, or grading papers, or watching TV, or planning for next week, so that I could bake cookies for my family.
I am a selfish person. It would have been so easy to give my men something I bought plopped in a cute little gift bag that I could reuse. But this year I gave the gift of time. I'm thankful I have it to give.
P.S. Chase says that the cookies were amazing.
