Letting The Kids Help.

Jayden with birthday cake..jpg


He reminds me so much of THIS cute sweet little boy who I know, who also has the same complexion, & HE ALSO likes to help me out in the kitchen!! He is the eldest of 4 children in his household.

Note one of his siblings in the background sitting on the floor. :wink:
 
Last edited:
I'm probably the worst mother in the world because I could never stand kids in the kitchen! I simply can't make the leap from 'my space' to 'messy space'. Call me a control freak (they do!).

My kids are all grown up now, but when they were little I set aside some cooking times with them to make cakes and biscuits etc. - but I never enjoyed it. To me. cooking is a very special thing and its 'me' time. I have a lot of respect for those of you that can enjoy kids in the kitchen. But sadly, I don't. I really can't bear chaos in the kitchen. However, when they were teenagers I did teach them some skills. Some of them continue to cook but some don't (I have 4 kids). My youngest son is the worst... as a kid he was given all sorts of food and loved seafood, exotic tastes etc. Now (at 26) his preferred food is very calorific American style drive-in plates involving burgers, cheese and fries. If I make a home-made pizza, he squirts mayonnaise over it. :sick:
 
morning glory said:
I'm probably the worst mother in the world because I could never stand kids in the kitchen! I simply can't make the leap from 'my space' to 'messy space'. Call me a control freak (they do!).

My kids are all grown up now, but when they were little I set aside some cooking times with them to make cakes and biscuits etc. - but I never enjoyed it. To me. cooking is a very special thing and its 'me' time. I have a lot of respect for those of you that can enjoy kids in the kitchen. But sadly, I don't. I really can't bear chaos in the kitchen. However, when they were teenagers I did teach them some skills. Some of them continue to cook but some don't (I have 4 kids). My youngest son is the worst... as a kid he was given all sorts of food and loved seafood, exotic tastes etc. Now (at 26) his preferred food is very calorific American style drive-in plates involving burgers, cheese and fries. If I make a home-made pizza, he squirts mayonnaise over it. :sick:
Click to expand...


Awe I'm so sorry that things did not work out for you in the kitchen when your children were little.

I've never had children of my own, but had you given it a chance to let them help, I think that it would've been a very wonderful thing! Most of the kids I know are very eager to learn things. It really is a joy to see a child wanting to help out in the kitchen!

Like the little boy whose pic I posted above. He gets mad & outraged at me if I don't let him help me in the kitchen! But me being an ole' softie that I am, it saddens & hurts me to see a child unhappy, so I give in to him and let him help.

He or she gets hands-on training and it makes me feel so important to know that they offer their time to be helping me master the art of cooking - especially if it is something that they love to eat! And most kids will eat just about everything!

That is why I was so happy to let my grandnephew who is now 12 work with me in the kitchen! He is going through a transition right now as to what he would like to do in life, but even if he doesn't choose cooking as a career, he already knows how to cook, & if he does not find a girl and marries her, he will definitely know how to cook when he gets out on his own! I'm really so proud of him!!! :wink:
 
Last edited:
Khamani 4.jpg



I'd LOVE to get THIS little boy in the kitchen to work with me & help so that hopefully someday soon, he can see what a joy it is to eat normally, meat & veggies.

But the poor little boy has a learning disability (not his fault). I feel so bad for him! :cry:

That could explain why he has such a hard time. He won't let anyone tell him differently, to change over from eating not-so-healthy foods. His family just gives him what he only seems to understand the most - junk foods. It would certainly be a pleasure to help him change the way that he eats! Since he likes to eat foods that don't benefit with his health (& what kid doesn't), it would be beneficial to him so that hopefully, he will change his eating habits,
and get to discover all the joys in life that good food has to offer! :wink: :chef::cook:
 
Last edited:
I have always let kids help in the kitchen. Though the first thing I show them is the knives and my left hand pointer finger. It has a knife scar from when I was 15 or 16. That gets the point across very quickly.

As for helping about 10 years ago, my adopted daughter, her daughter (age 4) and I were making cream cheese mints for a party. Easy recipe, 1/2 stick of butter, softened, 8 oz cream cheese, flavoring, powdered sugar and food coloring.
Anyway at one point we are all rolling and shaping the mints. My daughter looks over and the 4 year old is pretty much covered in powdered sugar. Neither mom or me looked much better.
The mom starts to say something to the kid and I just give her a look. Her next comment was what did I do as a kid. What she and my biological daughter had done when they were 4 and 2 was decide to make a cake. They couldn't find a bowl so they decided just to mix it on the table. I am so glad I heard the refrigerator door open. They knew 4 of the ingredients. Flour, sugar, milk and eggs.

Do let kids help. It will get messy and if you are worried about their clothes, old t-shirts work great.
 
morning glory said:
I'm probably the worst mother in the world because I could never stand kids in the kitchen! I simply can't make the leap from 'my space' to 'messy space'. Call me a control freak (they do!).

My kids are all grown up now, but when they were little I set aside some cooking times with them to make cakes and biscuits etc. - but I never enjoyed it. To me. cooking is a very special thing and its 'me' time. I have a lot of respect for those of you that can enjoy kids in the kitchen. But sadly, I don't. I really can't bear chaos in the kitchen. However, when they were teenagers I did teach them some skills. Some of them continue to cook but some don't (I have 4 kids). My youngest son is the worst... as a kid he was given all sorts of food and loved seafood, exotic tastes etc. Now (at 26) his preferred food is very calorific American style drive-in plates involving burgers, cheese and fries. If I make a home-made pizza, he squirts mayonnaise over it. :sick:
Click to expand...

No, you are not the worst mother.
Note in my previous post I said kids have always helped in my kitchen. They usually were not my kids.
Sometimes we would share treats with the moms.

Though the funniest one I ever got into was when a 14 year old was babysitting all the nieces and nephews. The moms were going grocery shopping.
None of the kids had been fed so the girl just brought all the kids down to my house and took over my kitchen. They had a nice meal of hot dogs and macaroni &cheese. Only the little ones under 4 didn't help. They got to color.

The really amusing thing is all those kids are grown now and do let their kids help in the kitchen.

So to any moms that for whatever reason, mess or financial, can't have their kids in the kitchen find a friend that will let the kids play in the kitchen.
 
Note to self. Must try harder if I ever get grandchildren. Thankfully that is not likely as the two grown-up girls say 'no way', the eldest boy is a loner and my youngest boy... well he might reproduce but I'm hoping its a long way off. You see, I really am a bad (grand)mother. :laugh:

I'll leave the mess to those that enjoy such things.
 
morning glory said:
Note to self. Must try harder if I ever get grandchildren. Thankfully that is not likely as the two grown-up girls say 'no way', the eldest boy is a loner and my youngest boy... well he might reproduce but I'm hoping its a long way off. You see, I really am a bad (grand)mother. :laugh:

I'll leave the mess to those that enjoy such things.
Click to expand...

Slightly off topic but had to share. I was also inclined to let others decorate my Christmas tree. This is fun if it is children doing the decorating. If a 23 year old says mom never lets me help, there may be a good reason. I made the mistake of letting the 23 year old help. She literally twisted every ornament hook so there was no chance the ornaments would come off. And she was nowhere to be found when it was time to take down the tree.
 
About 15 years ago, the two young girls who live(d) opposite asked me to assist them in preparing a food dish that wasn't Thai for a project at school. I considered fish and chips but It needed to be prepared the day before it was presented therefore that was out. Chili was also out because many Thais don't eat beef. I settled on "egg and potato dum" (the recipe of which I have recently posted on this forum). I told them to just bring 6 eggs and I would provide the other ingredients.

A few days later was the day and they arrived. However, it wasn't the two of them that arrived but a third of the class (13). I couldn't have 13 12 year old kids moving around my kitchen amongst sharp knives and hot oil so in the end we lined them all up against the wall and my wife and I did the cooking.

The dish won a prize (but so did all the others).

Two years ago one of the girls stood for election as village mayor (but unfortunately lost) and we went to her wedding earlier this year.
 
Yorky said:
I'm sure that will not be the case once it occurs (if ever).
Click to expand...
Believe me it will. My sister recently became a grandmother. I literally cringed when I held the baby. Strange really since I used to quite like babies (I had 4!). I never really liked them at all once they got past the baby stage. I just thought they were a nuisance. And they take up far too much time. So you see, I was a bad mother too! And if you don't believe me you can ask any of them. We are quite open about the fact I was crap at it. My partner stayed at home to bring the last two up. I worked full-time through all their childhoods returning to work a few weeks after each birth and in one case three days after!
 
Yorky said:
About 15 years ago, the two young girls who live(d) opposite asked me to assist them in preparing a food dish that wasn't Thai for a project at school. I considered fish and chips but It needed to be prepared the day before it was presented therefore that was out. Chili was also out because many Thais don't eat beef. I settled on "egg and potato dum" (the recipe of which I have recently posted on this forum). I told them to just bring 6 eggs and I would provide the other ingredients.

A few days later was the day and they arrived. However, it wasn't the two of them that arrived but a third of the class (13). I couldn't have 13 12 year old kids moving around my kitchen amongst sharp knives and hot oil so in the end we lined them all up against the wall and my wife and I did the cooking.

The dish won a prize (but so did all the others).

Two years ago one of the girls stood for election as village mayor (but unfortunately lost) and we went to her wedding earlier this year.
Click to expand...
Best place for them (standing against the wall!) . :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom