Mom

I do not like cooking.

I don't like chopping vegetables. I don't like peeling things or measuring or mixing. About the only things I actually make are: carne asada tacos (if the meat comes pre-seasoned), guacamole and cranberry sauce.

Most of all, I do not like having to clean up after cooking. There are so many pots and pans and then the flour goes into these random crevices, which, I can tell you now, I do not try very hard to clean.

But lately, you have become a really picky eater.

There was a time when we would give you anything - bagels, watermelon, chocolate cake - and you'd shove it in your mouth. You even licked lemons and went back for more. That is not happening anymore.

These days, if it's not blueberries or peas or chocolate cake, you will not eat it. Either you will say "No!" and wave it away. Or you will put it in your mouth and then spit it out in very dramatic fashion. But all in all, it amounts to you not eating very much and me feeling like a bad mom for being so lazy about your food options.

So!

I bought one of those books for dummies. How to not starve your child for dummies, or something like that. Anyway, there was a recipe in there for carrot muffins.

Guess what?

I peeled carrots and then grated them. I mixed whole wheat flour and cleaned up all the spots where I spilled. And I made you a batch of homemade baked goods. AND YOU ATE IT. Not only that, but you washed it down with two glasses of milk, smiled and said "Mmmmm."

And for the first time since July 4, 2006, I felt like a real, genuine mom.