Dear Kid,

Today is brought to you by the letter “Fall.” (Extra points if you get the reference.)

I’m pretty sure fall has well and truly arrived. The air is cooler (if not quite crisp), the leaves are falling (we’re overlooking the part where they start falling in our backyard around July 7^th), and the newspaper can’t decide whether to devote more space to the election campaign or pumpkin recipes.

Must be fall.

I love fall.

I love the temperature. I love being able to sit outside without handwarmers and a parka and enjoy a hot cup of coffee without wishing for air conditioning.

I love wearing a light jacket to work in the morning (of course, then it’s warm enough in the evening that I don’t need it and I forget to bring it home so I end up with a ridiculous number of jackets on the back of my chair and freeze on the way in to the office—but that’s not the story I’m telling).

I love being able to wear fashion boots because it’s cool enough for boots but nice enough not to have to drag out the “purely functional” footwear.

Have you notice that some things seem to “wake up” in the fall? Not just the football fans who’ve been hibernating for the past few seasons. The Puppy seems to wake up this time of year. It’s fun to bound around outside in the fall. (It’s not nearly as much fun to go inside and we’ve had to have a few stern conversations about that—but that’s not the story I’m telling.)

I love the colors of fall. I love the colors of fall clothes with their muted palates that offer a warm hug. I love the vibrant reds and yellows and purples of the changing leaves. (In our yard, most of the colors go directly from dingy green to dead brown—but that’s not the story I’m telling.)

I love the tastes and smells of fall. The turning inward of the season. The pumpkin and spice and cinnamon that seem to breathe “it’s fall.” The slow cooking squashes and stews and breads that promise richness and fullness (and thousands of calories—but that’s not the story I’m telling).

I love fall.

Especially the edited version.

Love, Mom

P.S. Yes, there was a DearKidLoveMom yesterday, but somehow it didn’t email out the way it’s supposed to. Click here if you missed it.

P.P.S. You can sign up to have DearKidLoveMom delivered to you each most mornings. Just enter your email in the box near the top of the post.

Dear Kid,

Some things are easy to remember about October. The leaves start to turn; ghosts, goblins, and ridiculous amounts of chocolate show up at the end of the month; and it’s Adopt a Shelter Dog Month. You remember Adopt a Shelter Dog month, right?

But did you know that it’s also National Cookie Month?

It is.

       C is for Cookie!

I called Cookie Monster to get his perspective on National Cookie Month. Unfortunately, his fur was flat and he was feeling blue (see what I did there?) so he wouldn’t talk to me. I think it was because I hadn’t sent him cookies.

Poor Cookie.

There are lots and lots of different kinds of cookies. There are rolled cookies and bar cookies and baked cookies and fried cookies and pressed cookies and molded cookies and sandwich cookies and twice baked cookies and dog cookies (just wanted to see if you were still reading).

Puppy: Do NOT joke about dog cookies!

I tried to think about all the different ingredients that can go into cookies. Then I got a headache and decided to think about whether there were any ingredients that can’t go into cookies.

Well, duh.

Kale. Kale should never, ever, EVER be put into a cookie.

Bats. Bats do not go in cookies. Not even Halloween cookies.

So yes, there are ingredients that should never go into cookies.

But most ingredients can happily find their way into one form of cookie or another.

My favorite kind of cookie?

That’s easy.

The one that someone brings me so I don’t even have to get up. Preferably with a hot cup of coffee. Or tea. I’m flexible like that when cookies are involved.

Love, Mom

Dear Kid,

Happy October!

It’s the first day of the 10^th month, and it is a Day just made for college students.

First of all, it’s a Saturday which means sleeping in, tailgating, and an occasional football game.

Secondly, it’s October which means we can now begin the official countdown to Halloween. (NOW it’s appropriate to display Halloween merchandise. The stores jumped the gun big-time this year and had ghosts, goblins, and pumpkins parading around in the middle of August. Ridiculous.

Next, it’s National Homemade Cookie Day. As far as I’m concerned, this includes cookies made in anyone’s home, cookies that have traveled to anyone’s home, and cookies eaten by anyone who has a home. I’m quite liberal when it comes to the Eating of the Confections.

Twelfth (one, two, skip a few…), it’s International Frugal Fun Day. And in honor of International Frugal Fun Day, here are 10 ideas for having some Frugal Fun at college.

1. Make cookies. It’s kind of a two-fer-one celebration!
2. Go for a long walk. If you’re in a part of the world where the leaves are changing, enjoy the fall colors.
3. Cook for someone. “I’ll cook if you buy the food,” is a fantastic offer that those not possessed of kitchen skills are often eager accept. Don’t forget the cookies.
4. Read a book. For fun.
5. Study. (It’s frugal even if it’s not fun. And it will free you up to have guilt-free fun later.)
6. Get together with friends and play a board game. (Before or after the football game; it’s up to you. I would never suggest you pass up the game to play one of your own.)
7. Plan your Halloween costume. Frugally.
8. Go to Costco and eat your fill of the try-its. With any luck, they’ll have cookies out.
9. Invite friends over to hang out. They don’t have any money either.
10. Attend stuff on campus. There are always tons of things to do (and lots of them offer free food—and cookies).

Happy October, kid.

Love, Mom

Dear Kid,

Are you aware of the importance of today? You’re not? Today. Is. Epic.

Well, at least it has the potential to be epic.

EPIC—noting or pertaining to a long poetic composition, usually centered upon a hero, in which a series of great achievements or events is narrated in elevated style

Errr, I don’t mean that today will be an exceptionally loooooong, difficult to understand poem. Nor do I think we’re likely to see an unusual explosion of heroes (although exploding heroes could be interesting).

EPIC—of unusually great size or extent

No, I don’t believe that there will be more than the usual number of hours in the day today.

EPIC—Slang. Spectacular; very impressive; awesome

There we go. That’s what I had in mind.

Today is National Coffee Day. Did you hear me? National. Coffee. Day!!

A day to celebrate the caffeine in the bean. A day to celebrate the drip, drip of percolating perfection. A day to feel good about enjoying one more cup.

Of course, as far as I’m concerned, pretty much every day is a day to celebrate the joy that is coffee.

Which means maybe today is just an ordinary day with a really good label.

A really, really good label.

An EPIC label.

A Coffee Label. Happy National Coffee Day!

Hope your day is EPIC!

Love, Mom

Dear Kid,

It’s Elephant Appreciation Day (but you knew that).

African elephants have the best sense of smell in the animal kingdom. They can smell water 12 miles away and detect rain 150 miles away. Elephants would make excellent TV weather people, except they are smarter than the average meteorologist.

And it’s the Autumnal Equinox which means that if you were standing exactly on the equator (which you’re not) and you’d brought a stop watch with you (which you probably wouldn’t have done) and if you happened to time both the day and night (which you’d only do if you cared about such things and you probably don’t), you’d discover that the Autumnal Equinox is when (on the equator) there are exactly 12 hours of day and 12 hours of night.

And it’s Hobbit Day, what with being Frodo and Bilbo Baggins’ birthday. Hobbits love to eat and eat 7 meals a day including breakfast and second breakfast.

“Do you wish me a good morning, or mean that it is a good morning whether I want it or not; or that you feel good this morning; or that it is a morning to be good on?”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit

That seems like enough of a reason to be a Hobbit. Breakfast and Second Breakfast? I’m in love.

Elephants don’t divide their food into meals; they eat all day long. Maybe I’ll be a Hobbit-Elephant. Hobephant? Elebbit?

“May the hair on your toes never fall out!”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit

And Happy Fall.

Love, Mom

Dear Kid,

Happy September!

It’s a new month (rabbit, rabbit, rabbit) and I am very excited because September is National Blueberry Popsicle Month.

Wait, what?

Who thinks of these things?

I get designating a month Hispanic Heritage Month (September), Baby Safety Month (September), even Better Breakfast Month (September).  And it is almost conceivable that there would be Popsicle Month.

But an entire month specifically for blueberry popsicles? That’s a lot of blue tongues.

And it gets even weirder.

September 2^nd (tomorrow) is National Blueberry Popsicle Day.

Seriously? Seems to me blueberries are double dipping.

Here’s my recipe for blueberry popsicles.

Blueberry Popsicle Recipe

Buy blueberries. If you grow them yourself, then go pick them. But you’re going to need a good quantity of them, so if your yield is anything like ours you should supplement.

Wash and sort blueberries. Taste some to be sure they’re good.

Taste a few more just in case.

Wonder if you have popsicle sticks. Think about it while you eat some more blueberries.

Realize there are only 6 blueberries left, and head to the store to replenish your supplies. While you’re there, buy Blueberry Popsicles.

Celebrate.

Love, Mom