Back when I was a little girl, I was so lucky to have a mom who made me amazing meals, baked warm cookies from scratch, and even poured love into our breakfasts. If we wanted eggs or toast, she made it. She loved pancakes, still does, so if you said pancakes, she would rub her hands together in excitement and was on it!

Momma always made sure she was up to take care of us, even in high school! I kid you not, my mother packed my lunch for me in kindergarten through 12th grade. I hated buying, so 95% of the time my lunch was packed. The night I graduated from high school, I got a bouquet of roses to thank her for packing my lunch all those years. A rose a year doesn’t seem like enough thanks, but at 17, I finally started realizing what kind of mother I had. I didn’t realize it soon enough and let me tell you why.

In school, my momma always had delicious homemade goodies in my lunch. She makes these amazing little treats called “Scotcha-Roos.” These are my favorite, and let me tell you what — I have really learned to portion control over the past two years, but you put a pan of these in front of me and I cannot leave them alone! It never failed, my friends would see it in my lunch in elementary school and ask what it is.
“It’s a scotcha-roo,” I’d say.
“A scotcha what!?”

“A scotcha-roo that my mom makes me,” I replied.

“Oh, it looks so good! Can I try some?”

“Um, nope! Sorry!” I said without hesitation.

OK, OK, so usually, I am a sharer. But, when it came to that 2 by 2-inch square of scotchas in my lunch wrapped up in wax paper just waiting on me, there wasn’t room for sharing. I got asked all the time because my mom packed me the best lunches! From her cookies, Gibbles cheesies, to her special notes she wrote me on my napkins. “Hey honey, hope you are having a good day! I love you! ~ Mom~”

“Your mom writes you notes!?” the kids would say.

Listen here pal, that better be a kind remark because if you laugh at my mom’s notes, I will pop you square in the mouth. No one talks about my momma! I never hid my notes, I was always so proud of them. “Let someone say something,” I’d think to myself. Oh, I was a little pistol taking nothing from no one.

I knew I had it good but didn’t thank her enough like I should have. She is the reason I pack my kids’ lunches, write notes, and make sure they have everything they need. The reason I have my husband’s coffee ready each morning, and his lunches packed every day for work. I watched her 17 years before I got married and took it all in not realizing how it would affect me someday — including every night before dinner giving God thanks before we pray. This was so important, and a tradition done at dinner time.

At mealtime even now, we hold hands and pray before we eat. My six-year-old Kenzy will always ask if she may pray. Both of my kids know we pray before meals, we have always done it. But Kenzy’s prayers melt my heart. She always thanks God for her Daddy, Momma, Ty Ty, and Bear. (Bear is our black lab.) Thanks him for the sunshine or rain. Then she always, and I mean ALWAYS says this, “And God, thank you so much that my momma is the best cooker.” It melts me. Six years old.

My son will be eleven this week and both of my kids always praise my cooking. They thank me. They get excited for each meal and say how lucky they are. My son even thanks me for doing his laundry! Then I think to myself, why didn’t I do this for my mom? Like, I knew she was an amazing cook, and a great mom, but didn’t praise her like my kids do for me. Maybe it’s because my generation of kids are growing up in a whole new world. Packing their own lunches, eating breakfast at school, doing their own laundry and getting ready for school by themselves. Times were simpler back when I was younger. So many kids have it tougher these days. But, to have two kids who truly appreciate what you do is so awesome. That little prayer Kenzy says is something I will never ever forget. The way my son Ty thanks me all the time is something I will never forget. And the way my momma took care of her family!? Now, that’s something I will never forget.

Scotcha-roos
• Bring together to a boil– 1 cup of sugar & 1 cup white karo syrup
• **Take off heat and add 1 cup of peanut butter.**
• Fold in 6 cups rice krispies and place in a 13 by 9 pan.

Melt together; 12oz of chocolate chips and 6oz of butterscotch chips; and put on top of our Krispies. Let set a few hours till serving.