Mommy's little helper

Lyle is starting to get interested in the kitchen. He's asking me what's the thing I'm holding or the vegetable I'm chopping and he tries to imitate what I'm doing.  It made me happy and proud when he said "Mommy, can I help you?" Of course this would mean that the kitchen will be messier if I let him but I dont want to put off the helpful spirit  he has on that moment. I assigned him the task of chopping the stalks of spinach. We search for the toy surgical knife from his play doctor set and that's what he used for chopping. He started his task and was so serious at it and at the same time having fun =) Here's a photo of Lyle while helping me in the kitchen.

This is just a start of Lyle's adventure in the kitchen. As for now, I'll just follow his interest and encourage him. I'll try my best not to worry so much about the mess (fellow moms, I know you unnderstand what I mean.. hehe). And of course, I'll schedule our cooking session when I'm not in a hurry and I have all the patience I can muster.

Here are some tips from a Babycenter guest blogger on how to have fun in the kitchen with your kids:

1. Do all your preparations before hand ~ unless you like getting them to help you find the ingredients needed. This just speeds up the process.

2. Find safe ways to involve them ~ I wouldn’t recommend they chop up the vegetables with the butcher knife, but they can do a lot more than you probably think.

3. Choose simple recipes ~ especially when first starting out. You don’t want to go big at first becuase you may end up frustrated and never want to cook with them again.

4. Allow taste testing ~ I know you stick your finger in to give it a taste so let them too! My favorite part of baking with my mom was licking the spoon, or the entire bowl for that matter.

5. Ask questions ~ “What do you think goes in next?” Kids can have a short attention span at the best of times and this will keep them interested.

6. Teach them a good chef always cleans up ~ There’s something very satisfactory when you’re done and it’s all cleaned up. Clutter/mess is just added stress you don’t need.

7. Take lots of pictures! ~ I don’t know about your kids, but my kids love to be the center of attention and with today’s digital generation, they love seeing themselves “on film”.

Here's the link to the the article - 7 tips for cooking with your kids