Back to School: Cheer-Me-Up Treats

By Sharon Kebschull Barrett

Yes, that’s cheer me up — not my children.

I’ll never understand how parents can drop their kids off on the first day of school and not weep, or at least sniffle ingloriously. Maybe when mine are full-fledged teenagers, I’ll be happier about the end of summer and decidedly less spigot-like, but today, I am in mourning yet again.

I didn’t mean to go the whole summer without writing here. But I had two children who wanted two things: to spend time with me (no camps), and to take as many family trips as possible. I obliged. And now it’s all over.

The kids, though they really didn’t want summer to end, feel generally fine about this. One of them was about to burst with the pure excitement of going back to school, barely able to fall asleep last night but desperately wanting to, so today would come faster. The other, entering middle school, fears the workload to come but marched off resolutely.

And I drove away, feeling my face go prickly-heat red as I finally faced the reality of the day.

So, although I am sure my children will be delighted to come home to a treat, and although I will be thinking of them through much of the baking, these are all about me. Comfort food, I need you now.

Recipes: Southern Peach Cobbler, Chocolate Chip-Orange Cookies

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