This weekend my daughter, Ryan, made a banana pudding and yesterday she made homemade vegetable beef soup in the crockpot. Both times I watched and gave instructions but she did all the work. I think it's important to let our kids learn these things. My grandmother only let us in the kitchen to clean up and I was a terrible cook when I left home (dd and Mel think I still am). After fixing the soup, Ryan said she might want to go to culinary school to be a chef rather than her previous desire of being a vet. We will just have to wait and see what's next.

Do your children help out in the kitchen?

Yes, they do and they both really enjoy it...although I haven't given them a big dose of the 'real' life of a cook and made them do much clean up...but it's coming!!!

My dd is 12 and this past summer wanted to make jello. I was out gardening and figured she could handle it without my supervision as she has watched me make it and helped before. Wrong!!! About 10 minutes later I hear her screaming out the back door for me. WHY she did this I'll never know, but she put a GLASS pyrex dish on the burner to boil the water in! I NEVER put glass dishes on the stove, so where she got the idea to do that, who knows? Anyway, she was also gabbing on the phone at the same time and when the jello mixture started to crack and pop (actually the dish making that noise) she concluded it was too hot and that she should add COLD water. The whole thing exploded and what a mess. Thankfully she didn't get burned or cut when the dish shattered. But there was red jello EVERYWHERE - and chunks of glass STUCK LIKE GLUE to the ceramic stove top. We worked and worked to get the top cleaned up - and everything else within a 3 ft. radius....what a royal mess! And of course it wasn't pale lemon jello....had to be the Cherry!!!

Needless to say, all cooking now is done with direct supervision no matter HOW simple the job is!!! I agree with you - it's great to have kids in the kitchen and letting them experience the fun of cooking. I think it's like anything - if you learn to love it as a child, it stays with you.

Good topic!!! :)

Oh I can just see that jello everywhere. I haven't let Ryan mess with the stove yet but she can heat up things in the microwave. Maybe this summer, we can begin to work on the stove part. Ours is gas so it is a bit more dangerous than I'm comfortable for her to handle alone.

I keep wanting to teach dd (age 14) but she doesn't have any interest in learning. I keep telling her she needs to learn before she gets her own family and while she has someone willing to teach her, but she just doesn't seem interested. So I don't push too hard, I figure she'll come to me when she's 20 and newly married and want a crash course in cooking :icon_roll Why she can't make things easy on herself and learn now I'll never understand. My mom died when I was 10 and I really, really miss having her around to teach me all the "womanly" things I have needed to know over the years. I'm still learning to cook, lol.

I hear you doodlebug. Mine died when I was 14 and I wanted my kids to be self sufficient with life skills as early as possible. I felt so helpless after she died. I set to learning stuff as did my sister, especially as we got married and had babies.

My kids were making cereal, toast, and sandwiches by 6, and I had them doing soup from cans next, followed by bread, homemade soups and full meals by 12.

I was always afraid that I'd die and leave them clueless about cooking, laundry, cleaning, shopping, budgeting, sewing, and household repairs. I've done all that and more with them over the years to try and ensure good solid life skills.

I'm alive, they are 21 and 24 and doing fine. Very resourceful people.

Doodlebug,
I think you either like to cook or you don't. My younger sister NEVER liked to cook and at almost 40, she still doesn't enjoy it. She DOES it, but she doesn't get the thrill out of it that I do!!!

Both of my kids love helping in the kitchen, but I think it's just a fluke. I don't think I've made them like it - it's just who they are.

On the other hand I LOVE watching and feeding the birds and my dd HATES birds! I've tried so many times to get her interested and she couldn't care less! So I think they all have their own ideas about what they like and our persuading them doesn't count for much.

I DO think, however, that all it will take with your DD is some BOY catching her eye....and she'll be wanting to know how to bake that boy some brownies! Then you'll have her full attention!!! :hurray:

Lol, Farmgirl! Yep, I figure a boy will be the only reason dd will ever want to learn to cook :icon_wink

Canadian gardener, I too have tried to teach dd stuff in case I died young like my mom, but sometimes she just doesn't want to learn things and I get tired of trying to force her. At least she knows some life skills but I just wish she was interested in learning more. Not a day goes by that I don't wish my mom was still here, I'm almost 40 but some days I feel I need her now more than ever, kwim?

Great thread. I've enjoyed all your posts.

My boys (15 and 14) can make themselves pretty much anything they'd like...they aren't too elaborate but they won't starve! lol!

DD who is 5 all of a sudden want to make everything! Yesterday it was chocolate chip cookies. I helped her measure out the ingredients (great math lesson too!), she dumped in all in the bowl and did the mixing. DD spooned the batter onto the cookie sheets as well. She was very proud of herself. SO....this morning she decides she wants to make a chocolate cake from scratch...we found our recipe and away we went. It was awesome and everyone loved it! The guys are loving this!!

I think it's great the interest is there. Like Margery, I want the kids to be self sufficient when they are out on their own.