do you like cooking with your kids?

[meowee]

One thing I've noticed about homeschoolers: their kids can cook! It seems that kitchen time is turned into a learning experience and the kids pick up quickly. But, unfortunately, I hate cooking with my kids. My skin crawls if they even get near me in the kicthen! :LOL The reasons for this are that my kitchen is 4 feet X 10 ft, the electrical system is unsafe (extension cords etc), I have a tremendous amount of cooking to do most days and having the kids "help" is torturous... also I don't have a dishwasher. Also, cooking isthe only "alone" time I get and I don't seem to be willing to sacrifice it.

I feel like my kids are missing out on what could be a great homeschool experience... do you cook with your kids as part of homeschool? Do you love it? Am I the only one who doesn't?

[Ruthla]

My kids attend private school but I still believe I'm educating them while they're at home! Letting ds "help" me cook is a chance to have an activity with him- not a chance to cook efficiently! My girls can cook for real. Their cooking usually turns out something like this: "Mommy, can we make brownies/cookies/etc?" "OK, if you make them." I'll turn on the oven, put the goodies in the oven and take them out again, while the girls do most of the work. We're still working on the "part of being allowed to cook means cleaning up after yourself" thing. :LOL

[WastedGlamour]

my dd is 2 and so far we have made muffins and sugar cookies. They were both super easy recipes and prior to making " real food" I let her mix and poor and measure for a little while as I was doing housework. I let her make " goop" (equal parts of cornstarch and water) and let her mix flour and water with food colouring. When I felt she was ready we moved on to cookies and then muffins.

My kitchen is minuscule and the messes are a pain in the #$@! to clean up but I think it's worth it. I put tarp on the floor and newspaper on the table for easy cleanup.
My friend has picked up several cook books for kids at yard sales that feature really great recipes like easy to assemble pizzas and sandwiches that are mess and pain free.

[ShannonCC]

Not sure I can answer the poll I HATE cooking with my kids but I do it anyway. Where does that fit? I'm not even looking at it as an "educational thing" just that it's fun for them and, well, everyone should be able to cook for themselves so I do want them to learn. But man, I hate it.

I breathe a lot. Count backwards from ten in German in my head. Things like that. I think, for me, maybe it's because I'm not so great at cooking (used to be and don't know what happened - or maybe I just thought I was?). I'm constantly screwing things up on my own, I don't need help :LOL

Yesterday the kids helped me make pancakes and I managed to be in a calm, Zen like state the whole time Sometimes it works! I never offer it to them, but I do try to bite my tongue, push down my irritation and say yes when they ask to help.

[white_feather]

Oh, gosh. I think it's OK to "hate" cooking with your kids . . . particularly if it's a safety issue!!!

I'm sure you're a creative and apt enough parent to find other ways to bring similar skills into your child's life. Save the cooking until they're old enough to be safe around the electrical system and not get entirely on your nerves.

[charmarty]

I didn't vote yet. Not sure exactly what to answer with.

I loathe cooking in any form, no matter who it's with! But I do it because I think It's so important to teach my kids about it. Alot of foundation is laid when they learn good cooking skills, and healthy ways to eat. My mom never cooked. alll we had was junk food. I had to teach myself how to boil water when I moved out at 16. I want my childrne to feel comfortable in a kitchen unlike thier mother.

One other thing that streses me wiht cooking with them is the fighting! Drives me CRAZY!!!

[PancakeGoddess]

Originally Posted by ShannonCC

"educational thing" just that it's fun for them and, well, everyone should be able to cook for themselves so I do want them to learn. But man, I hate it.

I breathe a lot. Count backwards from ten in German in my head. Things like that. I think, for me, maybe it's because I'm not so great at cooking (used to be and don't know what happened - or maybe I just thought I was?). I'm constantly screwing things up on my own, I don't need help :LOL

ditto all of the above. I wish I liked it more. I should really get my act together, though, so the older two can pitch in eventually.

[clovergirl]

i voted that i tolerate cooking w/my kids, but in all honesty, it does make my skin crawl! especially dinner... i am so exhausted by the time my DH comes home that i really need him to take the kiddos so i can have a break... so cooking dinner turns into "me time".

[hsmamato2]

tolerate...

I love this...another hs mom and I were discussing this awhile ago, it seems like we're always reading articles of wonderful hs teaching/bonding experiences in the kitchen. hah! My experiences are noisy, messy, and when the kids"help" take 3x as long! That said, I do have tthem work with me frequently. Because it's good training in many ways, for all of us-
my ds12 is getting pretty good at feeding himself and little bro.-so it's all worth it!

[LeftField]

I honestly don't like cooking with ds1 (ds2 is too little). Cooking doesn't come very naturally to me so I'm usually a bit stressed out to begin with. Dh has been cooking with ds1 a bit lately, as he (my husband) is a great cook. I really want my kids to be involved in the kitchen, so I know I need to get over my issues. My mother never let us do anything in her kitchen, not even help with cookies. I left home having zero cooking knowledge. I need to work on my issues, as I've said. I'm also hoping it might help ds1 get over his picky eating issues.

[thrrrnbush]

I voted for tolerate, but honestly it's more of a love/hate thing. I love cooking with Miss Divatude when it's a deliberate activity. I hate having the kids or even my husband in the kitchen when I'm just trying to get food on the table. For me there is such a huge difference between fixing dinner and really cooking. So I try to periodically share the magic and beauty of joyous cooking and keep them far away from me when I'm just fixing a meal. Does that make any sense at all?

My daughter can make a fabulous chocolate mousse (if I measure, melt, and plug in as needed), she'll tolerate the tedium of grating cheese for the joy of real mac and cheese or a fresh pizza she made herself, she's not bad at kneading whole wheat dough (for bread or pizza crust) but these have all been learned as her cooking with me helping, not her helping me (in attitudes if not in practical terms). I say "Please don't help" a lot, but I try to balance it by setting aside time to teach her the things she really wants to know. I'm hoping we'll reach a point where each kid can be responsible for dinner one night a week which is that much less time for me to spend "fixing dinner". So there's a magical pay-off lurking on my horizon whenever I take the time to teach them cooking skills. Oh, and I'll take erroneous credit for doing it as a bonding thing, but really it's like breastfeeding was for me- carefully planned laziness.

Thanks,
Crystal

[boysrus]

i cant stand it, but I dont like cooking at all. DH does more with them, and since I hate it so much, they are learning by default! 8 yo ds can make his eggs, pancakes, grilled cheesea dn mac and cheese with help. 7 yo ds is just starting to get into it now.
We have been doing mmore cakes lately, and i let all three have a hand in it

[UnschoolnMa]

My kids have grown up cooking with me, and they still do it with me and on their own. We can't imagine in any other way It feels really good that they know how to make salad, pasta, chili, hamburgers, pancakes, casseroles, etc.

[luv my 2 sweeties]

I voted tolerate, because that's usually how I feel. The mess and uncertainty of cooking with little children is hard for me to take. I try to do it anyway at least sometimes. I do say no if I need to get something thrown together quickly.

However, I sometimes like cooking with them, and I think this will get more true as they get older. I've been making big batches of spaghetti sauce with all the tomatoes from our garden and freezing it. 5 y.o. dd has helped me a couple of times and it's been really nice. She's getting to the point where she can really *help*. (She's getting to be an excellent garlic peeler! ) So I think letting the kids help cook when they are little is going to pay off and also get more enjoyable as the get more competent in the kitchen.

[kavamamakava]

I don't love cooking with my kids when it's not a "Hey kids, Let's cook something" project. But we all love cooking so we make play doh or cookies or things like that and it's fun. Otherwise, I tolerate their "help."

[kavamamakava]

Originally Posted by thrrrnbush

Oh, and I'll take erroneous credit for doing it as a bonding thing, but really it's like breastfeeding was for me- carefully planned laziness.

Thanks,
Crystal

LOVE IT! That's kinda how I feel about breastfeeding and cooking with the kids.

[meemee]

love it coz my dd is so fascinated with it. but i am either the worlds worst cook or i just dotn know my dd's tastes but she hates eating most of it afterwards. she loves the process though. so it works v. well for me that my dd loves sushi and sashimi.

her toy store now is the kitchen areas in stores.

[momto l&a]

I detest cooking with my girls which really is a bad thing. But by the time they get a chair to stand on in the kitchen they are in the way for cooking. 2 chairs in our small kitchen is crowd. They are always in front of the cabinet I need something out of it seems. I could care less about the mess. Its just the stress of trying to get something done when you have 2 small children and a baby underfoot.

In my dream kitchen I would have an island so the kids can be on one side out of underfoot but still be able to help and watch and just be together.

[Dar]

I never thought of it as cooking with Rain. It was more that I needed help with stuff, so I'd ask her to do things like stir a sauce or make a salad while I did other stuff. Really, she started cooking by herself very young... she'd say, "I want chocolate chip cookies" and I'd say, "There's a recipe on the back of the bag, go to it" and answer any questions (sometimes grumpily). By 6 or 7 she could cook an awful lot of stuff... but it was truly because of my slackerness, not any homeschooling agenda.

Dar

[UnschoolnMa]

Originally Posted by Dar

she'd say, "I want chocolate chip cookies" and I'd say, "There's a recipe on the back of the bag, go to it"
Dar

That's about it here too. They just look up a recipe now if they need it (either in our cookbooks or on google etc) and go for it, make a shopping list if we need to get stuff to make it, and come to me with any questions. We like to make cinnamon rolls together. Mmm.