When Ben is gone, we will often have picnics in the living room. I'd like to say it's the 2015 way of TV trays and frozen kid dinners. But this week, the kids made dinner all by themselves and we ate at the table!
Alison planned the meal and the boys helped her put it together. Eli loved it. He said over and over, "I love cooking! This is so much fun!". He flourished and thrived and became this energetic, happy kid. He was asking each person what they wanted in their salad and would say "Sure! No problem! I can put that in your salad!"
The theory is true, if kids help cook the food, they will eat the food. The boys have never had salad (they usually just have components of it) but ate the ones they assembled. This was the first meal in history that they happily ate, didn't complain or ask for something different or ask to be excused followed by a request for a snack.
After dinner, they even cleaned up! I sat on the couch and listened to them work together and even heard a couple "good jobs" to one another.
1 comment:
I'm sorry to be such a broken record, but Eli reminds me so much of Ben when he was a little guy. Ben absolutely loved to get in the kitchen and make things and it's a big regret of mine that I wasn't more patient and accommodating of that desire. I love this post, and I think you're right--when the kids have some effort in the meal, then they're more likely to appreciate it.
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