It is almost impossible for me to be in the kitchen without my shadow, aka Munch, wrapped around my legs, tugging at my pants or pulling every piece of Tupperware we own out of the cupboard. I have been at my wit’s end trying to find a way to keep her occupied while I make meals. In part for my sanity and in part because its not the safest place for her to be when the oven is on or I’m using burners on top of the stove. In desperation yesterday morning, I pulled up a chair next to me at the counter while I made muffins for breakfast. I started out giving Brooke a bowl and wooden spoon to play with. That kept her busy for about 30 seconds. Then I noticed the flour sitting on the counter…dumped a couple tablespoons in her bowl for her to stir around. Next I think, what can I throw in that has a contrasting color so she can mix? Brown sugar!! I dump some in. She’s pretty happy with that but then the bag of chow mein noodles we used a couple nights ago catches my eye. A handful of those go into the bowl. By now, flour is flying. Its on Brooke, on the chair, on the floor…but so what? She’s having a blast mixing and even taste-testing (*blech*).
please excuse the bed head…happens even to the youngest of us!!
Final product – brown sugar-flour-noodles
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I had stepped away from posting the above because it was time to get dinner ready. Again, within minutes, I had a 16-month old underfoot. So I went back to my strategy from yesterday and pulled up a chair. It was a messy undertaking but Brooke and I had a blast making dinner together. She helped stir, she added some spices and a couple times when I glanced down saw the biggest grin on her face!
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