Day Thirty-Two: Chocolate Chip Cookie Therapy

I woke up before my alarm today, but lay in bed waiting for it to go off, letting my mind wander in the dark. I got up and made tea and a slice of bread with peanut butter as a snack before settling in to work. I had a meeting to prepare for, a meeting where we were planning for the upcoming year's worth of work (our work calendar starts in May, not on the calendar year or the fiscal year, which is continually confusing). It's hard to plan for the year when we have no idea what is going to happen, but we were proceeding as if things would return to "normal" in a few months. We'll adapt if we have to, of course. 

After a while, Daisy's pleas for attention became insistent enough that I went outside and snuggled her. I like to sit in the Adirondack chair and pull her into my lap. She gets so excited for company in the morning she tries to lick my face, and snuggles her snout up against my neck while I pet and scratch her. Jeremy came out to go do chores and reminded me that someday she is going to be a really big dog and will still want to sit on my lap. I'll cross that bridge when we come to it, though. I love these morning snuggles. She would probably let me hold her for hours, but I too soon have to put her down again and feed her so I can go inside and feed my human children. 

William wanted Cheerios with honey and Taiya wanted oatmeal, so I got their breakfasts ready, and did a little more work on my computer while they ate. 

Jeremy came back in time for me to go to my meeting. By "go" I mean I went outside to my car with my phone and laptop and sat in the driver's seat for the duration of the meeting. Our house is so small, there is not a room anyone can go in to have some quiet time. I'm seeing the flaw in this design now. I mean, ten years ago when we built it, we could hardly have anticipated this situation, but still, I sure wish we had a room with a door that shut. Not just for office work, but also, if one of us comes down with COVID-19, we'll have to go pitch a tent in the yard or something to keep isolated. 

Anyway, I was able to focus for the entirety of my meeting, and signed off around eleven. At this point, Jeremy had to leave to do some work, and I was struck with a burning desire to bake cookies. William was a ready helper. We made oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, another family tradition. When I was a kid, we used to just put all the cookie ingredients in a bowl and mix it with our hands, and it was so fun and they turned out great. My parents let me eat raw cookie dough and everything. I am so much less fun. I make William cream the sugar and the butter, then add the egg, then vanilla, then the dry ingredients, etc., adding everything in the right order. And, I don't let my kids eat raw dough. I actually feel guilty about this, but I can't stop myself from stopping them. I'm just a worry-wart about some things. William and I got the dough finished and baked the cookies - the recipe made three dozen beautiful, golden cookies. The house smelled amazing. It washed any work-related stress away like aromatherapy magic. We ate cookies for lunch, though I made the kids have applesauce too, to balance the scales a tiny bit. I guess I'm not that stern a parent if I let my kids have cookies for lunch. 

It was warm and sunny out at that point in the day, and we went outside to the swing set we put up this winter. We played around out there for a while, with Daisy circling the scene trying to figure out what this whole "swinging" thing was about. Then William wanted to go inside and make a sock monkey. I really don't know where this fixation came from, but when I told him no again, he asked if we could make clothes for his snuggle toys. That is how Tigger ended up with quite a dashing vest, if I do say so myself. Four buttons and everything. (I just cut slits for button holes. I have no idea how to do button holes for real). 

Jeremy got home from his work outing and took William up to do chores so Taiya and I could do her school work. We worked on her math packet today, and she went through it impressively fast. She flops around on the floor moaning when we have to do reading and writing, but math for her seems like a fun puzzle that she has no problem figuring out. We got through almost a whole week's worth of work in an hour. We did take a "robot break" so she could decompress to play with the dinosaur robot, and she needed a cookie part way through, but even with those minor distractions she did great. 

For dinner, Jeremy had picked up hot dogs, a rare food at our house. He lit a little fire in our cast iron Lodge grill, and once it got some coals, he cooked the dogs on there. Hot dogs with various leftovers as sides made for an easy meal that everyone happily ate, and I didn't have to chop one single vegetable. It was a lovely break. 

The kids watched The Magic School Bus after dinner, and Jeremy and I sat on the porch talking. He told me about a doctor he heard on the radio saying that the two best things you can do for your immune system are sleeping and to try not to be stressed (in addition to eating a healthy diet and exercising, which we should all do anyway). Jeremy also said that the number one thing he could do to stay healthy at this time is to quit smoking. He told me this as he was smoking his pipe, but he said he's starting tomorrow. This is the first time in the whole time I've known him that he said this in a way that made me think he might actually do it. So, fingers crossed! 

At bedtime, Taiya and I continued the saga of Anne ("Does she talk this much all the time?" Taiya asked. Yes. For like eight books.), and I read When Lucy Goes Out Walking, and Trouble with Bugs with William. I always lie in William's bed with him to help him fall asleep, and tonight he said, "When I'm bigger, I'm going to sleep by myself." And I eagerly asked, "Like, when you're in kindergarten?" and he replied, "When I'm a teenager." Ha. I am going to make sure it's sooner than that, but I am glad it's on his mind. His twin bed is a tight squeeze.