Cradle Rocking to Cooking...

Soooo, I'm pretty fixated on this whole idea of 'cradle rocking' right now.  As a visionary, it is so important for me to have regular reminders of what my mission is as a parent.  I've been mulling over what I want the culture of our home to look like.

Some things are no-brainers: I want a home where the Spirit of God is present and moving in all of us; a home where we pursue God and allow him to guide our interactions with each other and others.  I want a home where we delight in the adventure of learning.

Other areas are more subjective.  My sister and I were recently talking about how our mother created a culture of appreciating the arts and great literature.  I don't have a natural bent towards art.  But she would regularly take us to art museums, discuss the worldview or artistic techniques of various artists and get us excited to do the same.  As such, I have a deep appreciation for art.  She started taking us to Shakespeare plays before we could even begin to comprehend the 'old English' way of communicating.  She cultivated a hunger for understanding and enjoying it!  We all love to discuss art and literature because that was the culture she created in her home.

On a more practical note, I've always 'valued' the idea of raising independent kids.  This week, as I've been pondering 'my culture' I realized that in my rush to be efficient and my desire to have things done 'my way' that I have not involved my kids in the kitchen with the frequency that I would like to think I have.  This became glaringly evident when my 8 year old walked into the kitchen yesterday at lunch and asked if he could help me put the burritos together for lunch.  I quickly told him no, thinking that it would take too long when the whole 'culture' idea popped into my head again.  What was I doing?  Was there really that big of a rush in my day that would preclude him from helping me make lunch?  He WANTS to help me make lunch.  When I really sit back to think about the culture I would like in my home, I realize that I want a home where we all work together as a unit.  And that can't happen, unless I take the time to bring them into the everydayness of what needs to happen to make life work.

So we worked together on lunch.  The 6 year old soon joined us and was given a job.  We had the opportunity to learn about cleaning up after our messes since quinoa, pulled pork and shredded spinach didn't always stay on plates and inside tortillas.  But we were working together and they were eager to participate!  All that was needed was for me to have a shift in my thinking .

And then another novel thought popped into my head.  "Why don't you let them do some cooking on their own."  I've allowed them to 'help' me from time to time in the past and have now resolved to letting them help me out more, they are now old enough to start doing things independently too.  So I pulled out my old Kinder Krunchies cookbook and told the boys to look through it and decide on some things they wanted to make.  They were elated!

They settled on making cornbread and raced around the kitchen gathering ingredients.  It was a delight to watch them and only have to help out occasionally with asking questions to help them figure out where all of the ingredients were located. {you know saying things like, "no, next to your other hand.  other hand.  no, not that hand, your OTHER hand."}

I love this cookbook because it has a pictorial element making it possible for even the preschooler to take part.  He loved being able to 'read' and tell his brothers the quantities needed. 

{ooooh, I just love my future little helper!}

I modified dinner for the evening and made a white chili to go with the cornbread.  I should have enlisted their help, for my reading skills were pretty lacking.  I mistakenly added red pepper to the chili instead of chili powder... It took a lot of work to salvage the chili and make it palatable.  Their cornbread certainly did save the day!

All-in-all a successful day.  The boys are so excited they are making plans to open a restaurant and invite people over to sample their many creations.  And I'm thankful for the reminder to get back on track with what I want to be doing with my family.