Response to Patrick Padilla's "Baking Cookies"

Patrick Padilla’s “Baking Cookies” is about the relationship between a little boy, Matt, and his mother. At first, the relationship seems like a normal, loving mother-son relationship. This is because Matt doesn’t know any better and thinks that his mom only does things because she loves him. However, it becomes quickly apparent that what Matt sees as shows of love are actually forms of child molestation. A child protective services worker “rescues” Matt from his mother, taking him to his grandmother’s house.

            Overall, I really enjoyed this piece. When I got to the first little description of sexual abuse, I was a little uncomfortable, but the scene was done tastefully enough that I was able to keep reading. The entire story, though dealing with an uncomfortable subject, is written in such a way that enough of what is going on is revealed so that the reader knows what’s going on, but it is explicit. I also really liked the characterization of the relationship between Matt and his mother. It is obvious that Matt really loves his mother. He enjoys spending time with her and thinks of himself as her protector. The fact that Matt finds safety in his mother shows the depth of their relationship, even if the relationship is considered abusive. Additionally, the sprinkling of humor throughout was a nice touch. Obviously, child sexual abuse is a heavy topic and can quickly become uncomfortable and upsetting. However, the smattering of humor in the narration helped to lighten the tone so that it never became unbearably uncomfortable.

            My only real suggestion for this story is to explore the father some more. Right now, I only have a vague notion of why he left. Honestly, to me, it sounded like he was abusive to her. But she convinced him to leave, so I’m not really sure what motivated that. My other big question about the father is what caused his suspicions? The child protective services worker says that the father was concerned about Matt, but I don’t have a clear reason for why he was concerned. And if he was concerned, why didn’t he try to do something about it before calling child protective services? Maybe there was a confrontation prior to him calling them, but it’s not included in the narration? Right now, I’m a bit iffy about the father, and I’d like to know more about him.