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Making Monster Cookies with Five Kiddos ... by Myself

My Dad negotiated a deal with me that allowed my parents and two oldest siblings to go see the movie Unbroken while I stayed home and watched the kiddos. I would get paid instead of a babysitter and get to see the movie later with just me and Dad.

This deal was made thirty minutes before my family left for the theater.

I had no plan.

So clearly when I suddenly have five kids of various ages to occupy, baking cookies is the first thing that came to mind. 
 
 
 
 

I was familiar with Monster Cookies from my time working in a camp kitchen, so I did a quick scan for the ingredients.

Next was a team meeting around the kitchen table. The plan was laid out, expectations made clear, and consequences established. Of course they were all excited for cookies, but excitement doesn't last forever.







Lucky for me, making cookies also gives me a bargaining chip.

I sent each kid to gather an ingredient, and step by step we put together the peanut butter and oatmeal cookies.
 
 
 

 
 
We only forgot the baking soda, miss calculated the peanut butter, and only suffered one fatality, a container of oatmeal--lucky for me we had another. 

Holding some cookie batter away to ensure that they wouldn't be contaminated by children's mouths, I placed batch after batch in the oven. I even contemplated placing the cookies J had made in a bag and labeling it with the HazMat symbol.  The kids were great until the end. While I was breaking up a fight and putting both younger boys in time-out, a dozen cookies burnt. They got to tell the others. 
 
 

 
The kids weren't angels, they never are. Lunch held minor conflicts, while rest time was a disaster. By the time my family returned, I was ready for a nap and a cookie myself, but the day was fun. 

Spending time with my Daddy was also great, seeing a true historic story played out on the screen. 

Cookies, kids, and a movie: The day can't get much more exciting than that.
 
~ Alyson 

Comments

  1. Wow! Sounds like a crazy day! You're a very brave person. I'll be babysitting the two little ones at my house for two hours later, and while I love them, handling them by oneself is very tricky. I'm already semi-dreading it. Glad you had a great day, though!
    ~Sarah Faulkner

    Inklined

    ReplyDelete
  2. Awesome. This makes me hungry for monster cookies though.

    ReplyDelete

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