My Little Sous-Chef

I don't think it's any secret that being a stay at home/work at home mom can be rough. My time is limited and balancing Isaac + my workload + my housework = near mental breakdown every night.

That said, I still try to keep things changing to avoid boredom (daily activities, meals, etc.). Lucky for me, Isaac is a huge helper and I've found ways to incorporate him in my chores where he's helping me and getting a sense of accomplishment out of it.

Isaac LOVES helping me in the kitchen. He doesn't really care if it's putting away groceries, picking the fruit for dinner, or tossing potato pieces into the water to boil for mashers later that night. He just wants to be involved.

Yesterday I was behind, not feeling well and in need of something to make for dinner. Surprise surprise, I'd forgotten to take chicken out of the freezer the day before to thaw so I was stuck with frozen chicken and my dinner plan obliterated. What happens at this point? Out comes the Crockpot.

Ah, the Crockpot. It can be your best friend of worst enemy if not used properly. However, it's extremely kid friendly when it comes to the "dump" aspect. My plan for stuffed chicken turned into smothered chicken. It used the same ingredients plus a little cheddar cheese soup (Isaac's idea - not kidding). He got out a few things for me, I got out the rest. I put in the chicken, he dumped the soup, cream cheese, herbs, spinach and tomatoes that I'd sliced and seeded.

He LOVES helping in the kitchen. Have I mentioned that?

I was planning garlic mashed potatoes to serve with the chicken. Hmmm... what could Isaac do to help me? He can put the potato pieces into the pot of water before I put it on the stove to boil. Was this a good plan? Yes. Anything having to do with water, he's all over.

Yes, he's a messy helper at times, and yes, he gets into things and does things that I didn't ask him to do. However, having him in the kitchen to help me is great on several levels even with the brief annoyances:

1.) He's DOING something rather than having to be distracted by the TV while I work.

2.) He's learning to help pitch in and learning to LIKE it.

3.) He gets a sense of accomplishment from helping with a family activity.

4.) If it's not a meal that I think he'll particularly like, he gets excited about it anyway because of his sense of ownership.