Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Cooking With Small Children.

Astrid LOVES to cook (unlike her mother).  She'll pretend to cook if I don't have a cooking exercise planned for her.  She won't be 2 years old until Feb 7, 2012, so I'm still leary of her impetuousness when it comes to the stovetop.  I read today (on the internet) that anyone with a brain would realize that small children shouldn't be allowed to use the stovetop.  I'm more of the opinion that small children should be taught how to use a stovetop safely, so (for now) she's still watching me flip the pancake while she wears the oven mitts, but I expect her to be safely flipping the pancake under my supervision within say a year if I still have the pleasure of watching her three times/week after her family moves. 


No. 1's inlaws want to buy them a house in their neighborhood before the new baby is born.  This would mean a nice house in a nice neighborhood with a good public school.  It would also mean a longer drive to bring Astrid here. 


So far, we've made cookies, pudding, and pancakes (from mixes).  We've also made play dough (from koolaid) and we'll make jello this week.  We haven't yet made anything from scratch and we haven't yet made anything that requires electricity to mix.   She came early yesterday so No. 1 could make a prenatal appointment, so I figured she wouldn't be so hungry that she couldn't help make her own pancake. 



What are your thoughts on cooking with young children?  If you have children, how old were they before you allowed them to use the stovetop?




2 comments:

Anonymous said...

No. 1 How old was I when you first let me use the stove top?

You will get A and new Blue as often as you want no matter the drive. I love you passing on your unique knowledge to her.

Oldnovice said...

I love how you love me passing on the weirdness, No. 1, and I feel a lot better about your possible move. Thanks for that.

Re your age when I let you use the stovetop ... I rarely used it myself when you were a child, so it never occurred to me to let you use it. I do remember teaching you how to make a PB&J sandwich (your favorite food), setting the table and doing the dishes when you were 2. I need to put the table settings where Astrid can reach them.