Tie me to the mast! Quick!

The problem with Christmas, if there can be a problem with Christmas, is Christmas cookies.  Or maybe the problem is that I'm 30 now and need to lose this baby weight since we're done having babies and I have neither the time nor metabalism that I had in college to lose fifteen pounds.  But cookies are the best thing on the planet...

Cookie monster's got nothing on me.  I mean, I've heard that he now sometimes eats carrots.  Carrots?  What kind of substitute for cookies is THAT?!?

A few years ago I decided I wouldn't stress about cookies. I decided that any cookie I met in December would be my friend.  (And apparently that means I eat my friends...?)  I ate vast quantities of cookies without guilt (almost as many as I sneak in with guilt).  And January 1st I hopped on the scale to find... I had LITERALLY gained 5 lbs since the end of November. 

Last year I couldn't eat the cookies.  I found the best diet ever.  It was called being pregnant with Little Miss, and the first few months it worked great because I couldn't even keep AIR down. Of course, that all backfired as the months went on.

So I woke up this morning, and my first thought was "COOKIES!!"  Obviously Angie wakes up faster than me.  I said a mental "No." 

"Cookies, please?"

"No."

"May I have a cookie? "

"No."

"Just one?"

"...No."

"But breakfast is the best time for cookies because we have ALL DAY to burn off the calories!"

"..."

By this time I was forcing myself to make eggs (again, not a good cookie substitute), and Superboy padded into the kitchen looking adorable in mismatched dinosaur/rocket ship pajamas. 

"Mom, can I have a cookie for breakfast?"

Tag teamed.  Angie and Superboy.  They're practically the same kid.

If only there was a substitute for cookies.  Something that had the same consistency as a cookie but was totally healthy.  But until that day comes...

"Yes... BUT YOU HAVE TO EAT A YOGURT TOO!"

Yeah.  That's good parenting right there.  Sigh.

Reasons why you should let your child cook with you:

1. measuring things for the recipe is good math skills

2. Stirring builds arm muscles

3. mixing stuff together is one of the great delights of childhood and he won't get yelled at for doing it

4. watching things change from liquid to solid in the oven is science.  And it's way cool.

5. He'll be more likely to eat something that he helped make.

Bon appetite!