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Little Chef Night

My kids love having something to look forward to.  Some weeks are so jam-packed with activities, visits and special events that we barely have time to look ahead before the next thing rolls around.  Some weeks though, we welcome a slower pace. We have nights, maybe even two in a row with no plans to speak of.

As much as I enjoy the calm of those nights, I love when my kids have something to look forward to.  Especially when what they are looking forward to is spending time together, as a family.

 

So I came up with a plan.  Mondays at our house are ‘Little Chef’ nights.  It combines a few of our favourite things and it gets the whole family involved.  The kids got a cookbook out of the library and they get to pick the recipe.  We make sure that we have the ingredients on hand and then they get to work.

Last week we cooked up our own version of chicken fried rice.  The prep work was their favourite.  The kids cooked the rice, chopped the veggies, and did all the mixing.  My favourite was they they gobbled up every last grain of rice.  Or actually, maybe it was seeing the pride on their little mugs when Dan walked in and they showed him what they’d been up to.

Teaching the kids to cook has so many rewards.  Not only will they be able to whip me up breakfast in bed in a couple of years, they will learn a real appreciation for food and what goes in to making a meal.  They are less likely to push their plates away uninterested in dinner, if they were the ones to make it.  It also creates a completely different relationship with food.  If they are doing the cooking, they may be a little more interested in trying something that they may otherwise turn their nose up to.

So far, in week two (tonight was kind of a cheat – pancakes – but I was feeling absolutely terrible and they still did all the cooking and had a blast anyway) Little Chef night is a complete success.  I have two little people who a super keen to get involved and that is all I can ask for.

Do you cook with your kids?  Have any fabulous recipes to share?

 

 

 

September 24, 2013 - 8:53 am

Sarah - Looks yummy. Good job Jaia and Wes!

September 26, 2013 - 3:46 pm

Auntie Jenny - Cool idea!

My boy, the pre-schooler.

Last week Wes went to his very first pre-school class.

He woke up that morning with an enormous grin on his face.  It was finally his turn.  He had been telling friends and strangers alike that he was going to his own school for days leading up to it.

As a mama, I experienced the true meaning of bittersweet.  It’s a different feeling with your last baby than it is with your first.  You are no less proud, but you are more confident.  You’ve lived through watching one child, seemingly so small, with a backpack basically the size of their whole body wrapped around their tiny shoulders step into a classroom, ready to take on the world.  You’ve smiled as they look back to make sure you were still there, and cried your eyes out in the car when they weren’t looking.  You’ve arrived extra early at the end of that first day to make sure yours is the first face they see when the door opens.

With your last child, you watch them take the same steps, you have the same fears and the same pride.  You smile the same smiles and cry the same tears – but this time you know firsthand how fast time flies.  You know you can’t get time back, so this time you stop and breathe in the big moments maybe just a little longer than you did the first time around.  Those moments are fleeting, and this time you know it.

We ate a special breakfast, we picked out our best duds, we snapped pictures.  No first day of school should be without the special touches, and we made sure that Wes experienced every one.

In 10 years he won’t remember that day.  He won’t remember being so excited about going to school – just like Jaia does.  He won’t remember what he had for breakfast or what his first backpack looked like.  But he will always have the pictures of him and hopefully they’ll remind him of how awesome we think he is and how incredibly proud we are of him.

Happy first day, little dude.

September 17, 2013 - 8:23 am

Dan Fullerton - love that huge smile!

Parenting Fail.

I am Canadian.  I live in Ottawa, home of the longest skating rink in the world.  We spend a large part of the year covered in snow and ice – and yet I have a 6 year old (and 3 year old) who can’t skate.

I grew up not knowing how to skate and I missed out on field trips, birthday parties and other outings.  I know what it is like not to be able to skate, and yet my daughter hasn’t learned yet.

If there was blame, I’d take it.  Other activities have taken a higher spot on the priority list.  Soccer, swimming, and skiing were on the agenda last year.  It left no time for organized skating lessons.  I feel bad, but last year it was skiing.  This year, finally, we’ve laced up and have taken to the ice.  Bring on the hot chocolate!

Both kids have lessons at the same time on Saturday morning for the next 6 weeks.  They won’t be attempting triple lutzes at the end, but they will have the basics.

Lesson number one was a success.  Wes took to the ice and was standing on his own and then jumping within a few minutes.  Sister was a little more cautious.  She was pretty nervous from the get-go, but she powered through.  That was all I asked.  And within 10 minutes of taking off her skates, she was already talking non-stop about next week’s lesson.

Oh, and notice Wes’ gloves.  Overnight, the kid decided that he wants to play hockey.  If he gets his way, we may be spending more time at the rink than I ever imagined.  Better buy myself some warm mittens!!

Enter Grade 2.

Despite the nerves, Jaia’s first day of Grade 2 went swimmingly.  She landed a wicked awesome teacher, and a class with almost all of her friends.  She left the house nervous and anxious and came home with a skip in her step and a smile on her face.  Good news all around.

 

September 6, 2013 - 2:22 pm

Mrs. D - Shannen, you are so creative and Jaia is such a doll!!

The big milestones mark our paths.  From the day our children are born, we look forward to the next big step and we take pictures, we smile, we share, we celebrate.

But it’s the small moments, the quiet changes,  that really mark change in our kids’ lives.  And yet, they are the ones that go undocumented.

Tomorrow Jaia begins grade 2.  It won’t be less exciting than when Wesley begins pre-school next week, but it’s not the same as some of the ‘bigger’ school moments: first day of JK, first day of Grade 1, first day at a new school, etc…But it’s a new beginning with new challenges, new opportunities, new friends, new teachers and new adventures ahead and very, very, worth being celebrated.  And celebrate we shall.

Shine bright, Sweet Girl. Knock their socks off.

 

September 3, 2013 - 3:38 am

Lisa D - Wicked awesome photo of a wicked awesome subject! Be great Jaia xo

September 5, 2013 - 9:15 pm

Mrs.D - You will rock Grade 2, Jaia