I have been making it a joke all this past week that I was under house arrest.  While that is mostly true, the bottom line is that our two oldest daughters are working at a Boy Scout camp about an hour away from home and do not get enough time off on the weekends to come home.  My husband and son were off on my son’s weekly summer camp in Arkansas…which left me our youngest (13-year-old) daughter at home with me.  And, of course, two dogs, five hens and a wayward turkey.  Said daughter does NOT like to be at home alone.  So, I wasn’t able to come to my office shed to do much work unless I had preplanned something to keep her occupied…which only happened two times the entire week.  But, Mommy/Daughter time is important (or Mom/Son time), regardless of whether it’s for a week, for a day or even for a few hours.  As parents, we work hard to make sure to have special time with all of our children together, as a family, as well as individual time with each child.

We had a list of things we planned to do each day, some we completed successfully and some we didn’t.  But, I think she had a little bit of fun throughout the week, even if it was just having the opportunity to be an only child and having Mom’s undivided attention!

The one thing we made sure we accomplished was making chocolate chip cookies.  She wanted to make them for her dad, as a homecoming gift to him, because she knows how much he likes cookies.  No problem on my end!  I had the time and we had all of the ingredients on-hand so we made cookies!

Now the only problem we all will have is trying to help her understand that she made them for ALL of us and not just her nor just for her dad.  Wish me luck because they are delicious (oh yes, I did have two one evening, without her permission).