Last night we had vegetable stew and cornbread for dinner, and guess who did almost all of the cooking? Ds5! This was thanks to the efforts of dd17, who involved him and found a way for him to independently prepare most of dinner. You should have seen how proud he was, as he kept telling everyone during dinner that he made almost everything himself and dd17 hardly helped him!
Here’s what dd17 did. (I was considering taking a picture of this to show you, but didn’t think it would show up well.) She fully illustrated the cornbread recipe for ds5! To start, at the top of the page she drew an ear of corn + a loaf of bread, then asked him what that was – to which he quickly answered, “Cornbread!”
She went on to draw each item – when it called for two cups of something, she drew two cups and then the item that needed to be measured out. For tablespoons, she drew big spoons; for teaspoons, she drew small spoons. She numbered the instructions, which was important for the next step.
When she wrote out the instructions, she wrote, “1, 2, 3, 5, 6” and illustrated that it was supposed to be mixed. Then she wrote the numbers that were involved in the next step. Thanks to these very clear instructions (which she explained to him to be sure he understood them all before he began), he was able to make the entire pan of cornbread by himself.
As far as the stew, he already knows how to peel and chop vegetables (yes, with a sharp knife – ds2.5 also peels vegetables, but doesn’t yet use a sharp knife), so that was mostly just a matter of putting it in a pot and dd adding the necessary liquid.
Do you know how much it builds kids up to be able to do something they view as ‘big people’ work, and do it well? Ds5 was hearing “thank you”s and compliments all dinner long! Getting your kids involved in the kitchen is an easy and natural step to helping them develop important home management skills.
Dd15 was telling me recently that she never understood why so many people were taken aback about her baking and cooking so well, until she saw how uncommon it is even for teenagers to be involved in the kitchen. (She told me about a teenager who proudly told her about the cake she had made ‘by herself’ – the mother had measured the ingredients into the bowl, and the teenager had mixed it and poured it into a pan.) And also, she’s now heard enough comments to realize that many people view cooking from scratch as a very difficult thing. But for us, it’s just how we’ve always cooked, so it’s normal to our kids.
It definitely takes more time to get your kids involved when they’re young, because it’s easier and faster to do it all yourself. It’s in the long run that it pays off, when your kids can prepare anything that needs to be made – I think by 12 a child is basically capable of mastering all of the chores that are part of running a home, but that doesn’t mean they want to do it or know how to do it. They have to be taught, and it has to be something they’re given the opportunity to do – they won’t learn by osmosis! I’ve found that when I view the time I spend preparing your meals as an activity I’m doing with my kids, I don’t mind that it takes longer. They’re busy having fun while being productive and learning important skills, while you’re getting something done!
Avivah
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