One Part Peanut Butter, Two Parts Love

Since I made the decision to be a stay-at-home Mom, there have been several times when I have glimpsed my own mother's hands when doing seemingly trivial tasks. Cleaning off a counter top, folding a dish towel... but none more so than making an after school snack for the boys this afternoon.

I met the bright yellow bus that carried my youngest son at the end of our street and slung his Angry Birds backpack over my shoulder as we made the short walk home. We had no sooner passed through the front door when Jacob sprinted into the kitchen to choose an afternoon snack. Little did he know several of the items we had purchased at the store the day before were ingredients for a very special snack I wanted to share with him.

When I was his age, my Mom would take a box of saltine crackers, spread them with peanut butter and let me plop a marshmallow on each before broiling them to a golden brown color. Then, she'd take a spatula and smoosh down each one into a yummy smores-like snack-- fresh from the oven.

As I gathered the items we needed, Jacob looked at me curiously and asked, "what you doin' Momma?" "

"We're making a special snack your Grammy used to make for me when I was in school, " I replied.

His eyes lit up like Christmas trees and he jumped up and down eager to help with the assembly process. One by one, we smeared peanut butter on a cracker then, just like I had done as a young girl, he delighted in sticking a fluffy marshmallow in the center of each cracker. The oven hot and ready, we placed them on broil and watched in awe as the crown of each marshmallow transformed into the perfect golden brown I remembered as a child.

Now I'm fully aware that this treat is not some gourmet culinary discovery. "Inside smores" (as I call them) have been around since the beginning of time I'm sure. But the beauty of this moment was the realization that I was walking in my Mom's footsteps. I was as excited about making my son an after school snack as I had ever been about any 5-star hotel I had visited or perk I had received as an event planner.

Because, there at my feet was one of my greatest accomplishments, scooping off a now-melted peanut butter cracker with perfectly-roasted marshmallow goodness smooshed down on top. Sure I was not dressed up and I hadn't earned a nickle all day to put into the bank. But on a Monday afternoon, I channeled the love and energy my Mom once poured into me and my sister by making the seemingly simple things special.

And to this girl, that makes life as sweet as an ooey gooey peanut butter cracker.