cook breakfast sausages at her house. She is a gifted lady. I managed
to emerge from my straight-jacket long enough to snap a few photos.)
Today, as I talked with my friend, she encouraged me to embrace my children’s love of helping. Cast away my expectations of having things just so, at just the right time, with minimal mess. Encourage their curiosity and teach them new and important life skills. To look ahead past the hard work to the days when they’ll be able to cook dinner for me. (That will happen, right?)
So I’m going to embrace the inherent danger of cooking with kids. I’m going to relax and enjoy their company in the kitchen (as much as I can with sharp edges and high temperatures around)! I’ve decided to let them each choose one meal a week to make with me. Planning ahead will help me on so many levels — I’ll start early enough, I’ll have accepted the mess, and I will feel less guilty on other nights that I reserve to cook alone.
This post is part of Tuesdays Unwrapped at Chatting at the Sky. Please visit her site to read more treasures on a Tuesday.
Available for RSS readers and email
For me, it's the messes. Or the kids randomly tossing ingredients into the mix without waiting to measure or get instructions, ruining the menu I had planned.
I did let the 3-year-old help make pancakes at lunch today. He wanted to scoop and pour the batter and even flip the pancakes. He is usually content after one or two turns "helping" and will retreat to his chair at the table to eat. His 6-year-old sister, on the other hand, wants to do the whole thing herself from start to finish. She can make scrambled eggs entirely on her own now, which is nice. And the other night I made pancakes for dinner, and after I had made up enough to provide basic nourishment to the family, I let her loose with the remaining batter, figuring that if she made a mess and the pancakes were inedible, we wouldn't starve. She ended up doing a really good job and was sooooo proud of herself!
But I agree, them wanting to help at dinner is rough. It works better for me to let them help with eggs/toast for breakfast or something like sandwiches at lunch when we're not all ravenous, nap-deprived, etc. And less dependent on the meal turning out properly.
That's a great idea. My son likes to help sometimes, though I haven't done a lot with him actually at the stove. I'm not sure I'm ready, but sounds like a great way to start. For now, he helps with "food prep" and makes sandwiches.
I think you will actually enjoy it, once you get over the initial effort. Your kids are great helpers in Gramma and Grampa's kitchen. It brings back many happy memories. Keep us posted on how your adventures in cooking go. Love you!
beautiful! :0) i'm glad you posted about this so it will help me once we bring home our daughter to be more open to letting her help in things that i might first tense up about!
Letting them be kids yet enjoy some adult supervised activities in the kitchen makes their hearts go pitter-patter. Enjoy it all!
Feeling your pain! This is a real problem for me too, and my kids aren't all that little! Thanks for encouraging me to let go a little bit, and embrace the danger.