Moms are no Aunts

My entire life, I have been compared to my older sister. "Why can't you apply yourself like Jennifer?" or "Why can't you get good grades like Jennifer?" or "Your sister is never late for school" or "Your sister never got arrested"... you get my drift. I thought I was done with it, but now even my own kids do it! My kids worship my sister. They adore her. They can't wait for her to come home from work every day so they can see her. When she is free, they are up her butt. What I don't understand is how she never seems to tire of them. She is so patient with them. She teaches them so much and uses every available moment as an educational opportunity. I credit my daughter being a math whiz because my sister is. I think my kids think I'm slightly intelligent, but when they ask me a difficult question and I give them the answer, they say "Oh, forget it, I'll ask Aunt Jen." Even if I'm sure of the answer! But none of that bothers me. Because I know if I die, my sister will be a fantastic mom to my girls. Here's what does bother me - making things from scratch. One day, Caty asked if we could make cookies and I told her I didn't have the stuff to make them, meaning that I did not have a slice and bake roll of Toll House cookies in my fridge. So, here comes my sister...Don't you have flour? Don't you have sugar? Eggs? Yeah, so? Apparently, these are the ingredients for cookies. Sure, I have them all, but I combine them only once a year and that is when I feel obligated to make Christmas cookies and bring them to family events. I'm no baker. I like to cook, but I'm just not fond of baking. It requires too much prep work and clean up and measuring and waiting for stuff to rise and rolling and kneading and aaaaaargh! That's a special project - it's not something you just do, like, when you're bored. Except, my sister does it. She makes cookies with my kids. She makes cupcakes with homemade icing. She makes bread and biscuits and pie and cake and muffins and everything else that normal people buy in a bakery. There are no boxes in her kitchen that say Pillsbury or Duncan Hines. She's probably never even used a container of frosting. To me, that is just crazy! So, tomorrow is Thanksgiving. My sister and Caty have made the cranberry sauce and a pumpkin cheesecake and probably a dozen other gourmet dishes. She did let me make the lasagna (for my vegetarian Dad) but she had Caty supervise the whole thing. I just can't catch a break. Hmmm. Maybe tomorrow during dinner, the gravy will be lumpy (yeah, right, sure. Fat chance).