Anyone Can Cook

Earlier this week Phoebe asked if she and I could make cookies. She specifically requested chocolate mint pumpkin cookies. I told her that while chocolate and mint go well together and chocolate and pumpkin are a good pair, pumpkin and mint aren't a great combination. She settled for chocolate mint cookies.

I hesitated saying that we could make them. Sophie hasn't been feeling well ever since her shots last week and has needed to be fed much more frequently, like nearly every hour or so during the day. I wasn't sure that we would be able to find enough time when I wasn't holding Sophie to make cookies.

Bryan has also been feeling lousy; he has a cold that he can't seem to kick, and on Wednesday he worked from home. Sophie went down for a nap in the morning and with another adult there to listen for her and help if needed, I figured this was our chance for the cookies.

Phoebe was thrilled to be my only helper. She usually has to take turns with the boys when we bake, so she loved pouring all of the ingredients in instead of half or a third of them. I would measure and explain what we were doing and why and she would pour the ingredients into the bowl. At one point she looked at me and said, "Making cookies is special to us, huh?" I hope she remembers that as she gets older.

Towards the end of the mixing portion Phoebe looked straight ahead and said, "See what my mom's doing? She mixing in the chips."

Having dealt with imaginary friends in the past, I wondered if she had created one without my knowing, so I asked. "Who are you talking to?"

She looked at me out of the corner of her eye and said quietly, "It's a show."

And then she narrated the rest of my actions for the invisible home audience. She concluded with, "Thanks, I'll see you next week!" And she waved.

It was awesome.