Oatmeal Chocolate Chip

Start with 2 hours
So you have extra to give
Or throw away
Put the kids down for a nap
And have a glass of wine (optional, sort of)

Take room temperature butter and mix
By hand
As effort makes everything taste better
Add sugar and brown sugar
Balance is key, as in life
An egg for each
Then flour, baking soda, baking powder
Oats, cinnamon, vanilla, chocolate, salt
Give your hands a good stretch and dig in
It will be hard
Your fingers will blister and cramp
Your arms, exhausted from holding children
Will burn, badly
But keep going
And going
Until everything is combined into a smooth
Thick
Sweet
Amalgamation of a parents love
Blood, sweat, and maybe a tear

Bake for 10 minutes, let cool for 5
Then burn your tongue
Eating as many as you can
Before the kids wake to the smells of
Fresh cookies, made with love
And urgently consume the time
Energy, and emotion
Poured into the fruits of your labors
As if were endless, and all theirs
Only theirs

I hope, when the energy does end
After they don’t need it anymore
They remember after-nap cookies
My happily exhausted face
And forget my tired arms
Cramping hands
Holding them tight
Because it was all for them anyway