The Joy of Cooking with Kids!!

When we get older we forget about the traditions and the things handed down by our parents.  We can stray away from their teachings.

When I was younger, my mother used to always cook with us.  On Holidays we always were responsible for making a dish.  As a mother myself I never thought much about cooking with my kids.  I am a control freak when it comes to those things and I am always sure that they are going to mess things up or burn the house down. 

I would let them watch me cook in the kitchen.  My 4 year old seemed to really like that. She and I would sit around and watch Rachel Ray cook her amazing 30 minute meals.  It clicked for me one day when my 4 year old decided that she loved to cook and wanted to be a chef when she grew up. 

I was excited for her and told my husband that we should sign her up for these cooking classes so she can learn to cook.  He stopped me and said “Why don’t you teach her?” Now I had thought about this but I was worried that with my writing career taking off and a new baby I would not have the time to teach her. 

We signed her for the classes and she was so happy to cook and would bring stuff home for us to try.  The first thing she brought home did not look appetizing.  She so badly wanted me to try it so I had to pretend to eat it.  It just looked so awful.  Meal after schooled cooked meal sent home was just horrible. 

I realized that I was forgetting how great it could be to cook with kids.  It was as if my mother smacked on the head from heaven. My mother did it with us all the time and the meals would come out fabulous.  I realized that I was paying for someone else to teach her to cook and the food was not looking good. 

I vowed that I would prioritize my time better so that my daughter would learn to cook some good food.  I want her to learn it from me just like I learned from my mother.  I know times are changing and women are not stuck in the kitchen slaving away while the man goes to work, but this is not just cooking because a man may want you to cook.

This is a tradition and I would be letting my mother down if I let my daughters leave my house without knowing how to cook a decent meal.  I can just hear her now…