Occupational Therapy - The Tasty Kind

I baked in the hospital as part of OT. There is a full kitchen in the therapy gym room. I had to be able to utilize the kitchen, read and follow a recipe, and bake some brownies and cookies before I was discharged from OT. I absolutely loved those days in therapy. I felt "normal" doing something like baking. I felt like my mama instincts were still there. I felt like I was doing something for others again, because I would always share the cookies with my friends (fellow patients).

Because I was still unable to read, I would cover my left eye with my hand and follow the recipe instructions as best as I could. I would turn the oven off, and write a reminder to myself to turn it back off. I would crack the eggs, dig the shells out of the bowl because my left side was not on point yet... I would measure the sugars and the flour with a little help from my therapist. Then, I would eat the dough because that's what I do! While the goodies were baking, I would ask if I could re-organize the cupboards. It felt so much more like home than anything else I did... and how I longed to be home with my boys, being a mama... a good, worthwhile mama.

I have continued baking since I came home. I love this therapy because the reward is immediate. I can see that what I did worked and that I did well right away. There is so much baking in my house because of this. Last night, I made sugar cookies and dipped them in chocolate. We had strawberries in the fridge with left over chocolate, so I dipped a carton full of strawberries, too. My boys love it! My guys at work love it! Whenever I come in with treats (which is often), my guys say, "Sis has been doing therapy again!!!"