need more family time bake cookies from

Need more family time? Bake cookies - from scratch!

During the Nor'Easter last week, school was cancelled and we found

ourselves in an interesting predicament: we wanted to make a fire, yet

ran out of Duraflame logs. We wanted to bake cookies yet had no "ready

to go" dough. The only path to take on both fronts was the "old

fashioned" one: wood logs for a fire and a recipe and ingredients from

the cupboard for cookies.

At first, it felt like we had been tossed back in time. Then, one by

one, we all started to settle into our "new" habitat. The fire was

gigantic and actually warmed the room - not just in terms of

temperature but with a rustic and amazing aroma. And, in the kitchen,

the kids were busy following a recipe and wondering if their homemade

Toll House cookies would come any where near their familiar "ready to

go" ones. There wasn't even a contest! The homemade ones so trumped

the "ready to goes"!

While sampling the first batch of their creations, my 13 year old

turned to me and said: "You know, some kids will go through their

entire lives and never have a home baked cookie." A wise observation

for a young teen. We have, indeed, become a society of convenience and

often overlook the times we do have to slow down and rekindle slower

and more intimate ways. It's no wonder many families feel displaced

from one another and why many experts keep touting the benefits of a

family meal.

But, I'd go a step further and argue that beyond the daily family

meals, families need these unplugged family days routinely. Snow days

are unpredictable but we do have times built right into our lives the

we often toss away on things like errands. Those days are Monday

holidays such as yesterday's Martin Luther King holiday.

With my back situation tweaking the zone of improvement, I almost

succumbed the old thinking of "day of errands" before I caught myself

and recalled last Monday's snow day. It didn't hurt that my kids

already had their minds set on a day of cooking baked goods and a

movie marathon of Star Wars. (How could I resist that!) The had a

blast last Monday and wanted to repeat the fun. That alone spoke

volumes to me. It's easy to think that these extra holiday times are a

great opportunity to get ahead of errands but I'm starting to realize

they have been missed opportunities for family time.

We've all be toying with the Dark Side for far too long. If I knew

that all it took to restore balance to the "force" in my family was a

batch of cookies, I would have tossed the "ready to go dough" and

pulled out the real recipe a long time ago. May the force be with you

on your quest!