Response to "Baking Cookies"

    This story is about a young boy named Matt who is sexually abused by his mother. We are given the story through his innocence, as he describes play time with mommy while baking cookies. We learn that she uses baking cookies as a ploy to get him to "play" with her. 

      I absolutely loved this story, and maybe I did because it was disturbing, but nevertheless I loved it. I thought the idea of the young boy seeing playtime as a special bond between him and his mother worked well and conveyed very well. I also loved the whole confectioners vs. powdered sugar thing great as well. The mother of this child is just completely screwed up and I think you capture that with Matt's subtle details of things he repeats she says are alright. 

     I felt like you were able to take a touchy subject and write about it tastefully. The scenes weren't over done or there wasn't too much unnecessary detail. We are able to feel sympathy for Matt because for one, he's just a little boy, and then two, we understand his innocence and how his mother has manipulated him into thinking the way he does. He's young enough to be innocent, yet old enough to realize him and his mother do things differently than everyone else. He even mentions that he prefers to play with mommy because there's no chance that he could get hurt, like the other kids do on the playground. I honestly have no suggestions for this story. I loved every part of it, especially the ending when the social worker lets him know that she hasn't come to "play unsafe games" with mommy. This story worked really well, and I loved the safe vs unsafe theories he'd developed in his head because of her. All in all great job.