I hadn't realised you were memorialising an actual event and not just making up a standard little story of devoted, indulgent mom feeling bad because her bad-tempered, lazy, demanding son isn't having his every whim catered to, though he doesn't bother to say please and thank you. As the story of an actual event, remembered across the years now the boy has grown into a man who can (one would hope) bake his own cookies, I guess it might read differently. But it does read like a classic anti-feminist morality tale "Good moms don't teach their sons how to bake, they bake cookies for them!" My brother learned how to bake cookies at the same time I did. Actually, he doesn't bake cookies, but he is experimenting with angel-food cake... The kid just never did like sweets, and still doesn't, so he never had any interest in baking growing up, nor did I ever bake anything for him—just for school events. I used to put candles atop a bowl of pasta for his birthday. Now, he can whip up a curry with the best of them, but only bakes when the situation requires it. I read your blog - nice writing. Glad I gave you some good fodder to riff on. PJH

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