Starting Off on the Right Foot

From the moment I stepped out of bed last Monday morning, I was behind. This is often the case as the end of the school year draws near, though I have yet to make my peace with this reality. So it was that last week, for the first time all year long, JT did not have any homemade desserts for his lunchbox. I scrambled to make up for my errant mothering. On Monday, I gave him a $2 to buy dessert in the school cafeteria, a treat he very much enjoys. On Tuesday, I talked him into believing that graham crackers were dessert. On Wednesday, I slipped him a piece of chocolate after I read a chapter of Farmer Boy to his class. For Thursday and Friday, I packed fresh strawberries and some chocolate for dipping in his lunchbox. In this way, I managed to stay just a half step ahead of Child Protective Services in the state of New Jersey.

This week, I was determined to start on better footing. Yesterday, I baked peanut butter cookies and triple chocolate brownies for lunchbox desserts.
I will share some of the largesse with my 15 A.P. students who will take their test today. Science has yet to weigh in, but I'm pretty sure that the sight of a homemade cookie on your desk helps to clear up any residual confusion about federalism, selective incorporation, and the role of interest groups and political parties in American politics.

If not, they will at least know how much I care. And for now, that's plenty good enough.