Top Chef Wannabes

I didn't just drink the kool-aid, now I'm making it and serving it to others.  Montessori is simply the best thing that has happened to my kids, and I couldn't imagine a better way to educate them.  I don't have nearly enough time to describe the amazing things that Sunshine does in her classroom.  But it's not just Sunshine.  It's totally rubbing off on Ladybug.  

Now I'm lucky enough to have two great helpers in the kitchen.  And no, that's not sarcastic.  Well, not really.  Sunshine cooks and empties the dishwasher and Ladybug has been watching, closely.  She's actually tall enough to open the dishwasher.  And now all my perpetually helpful kid wants to do is empty the silverware.  The only thing she hasn't learned yet is how to tell whether or not the dishes are still dirty.  All it takes is two minutes in the bathroom for her to have emptied the silverware bucket.  Lately I've found more dirty silverware in the drawer than I care to remember.  

Still I have no desire to staunch their unfailing need to help with everything that I do in the kitchen.  God willing, it will last through their teen years.  I'm alright with dirty dishes put back as if they were clean and a lot of spilled milk.  I just want them to love being in the kitchen. 

I have lovely memories of trying to sneak into my grandmother's kitchen when my aunts were cooking.  I would try to steal a seat in the corner and hope that no one would notice me and kick me out.  A little was learned about cooking, and I heard far more than my share of family gossip.  But now it's my mom, sisters and me in the kitchen, with an occasional aunt or cousin thrown in for good measure.  Well at least when we visit.  The laughing is endless, and the arguments are riotous.  

I'm trying to be different with the girls in the kitchen; not the disciplinarian I am in the rest of the house.  Good Lord, that's hard for a control freak like myself.  But you have to be creative in the kitchen.  Actually, Sunshine made her first risotto several weeks ago.  She did everything from dicing the vegetables to constantly stirring the rice.  It was fabulous, and she ate four bowls of it.  And last night, she made the homemade applesauce. Ladybug is jealous.  She wants to do more.  I know it's hard for her to see her big sister do things she can't.  But soon she'll be making pizzas with the rest of us.