"Everyone" says to start your children helping you when they are very young to train them in good work habits and service to others. But "everyone" knows that more times than not, their "help" only succeeds in making more work for their mother in the end! I have experienced that many times, but now I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel and am actually realizing that my children's help can truly be useful! :)
Case in point: Saturday morning, Josiah had a great time sitting at our table and unwrapping Hershey Kisses for one of the kinds of cookies that we made. He could sit there and do it all by himself, without me having to be involved or come behind him to secretly "fix" it; and I could be busy doing other things in the kitchen. It was a genuine time-saver for me to have his help in that way.
And when we were mixing the cookie dough, Josiah could count and measure the amount of flour we needed--all by himself--and I was free to get the eggs out of the refrigerator, get the vanilla from the cupboard, grease the cookie sheets, etc. Another real time-saver!
Not to be outdone, David "helped," too...the old kind of help that needs cleaning up afterwards. Yes, he spilled flour on the counter as he mixed the dough a bit too vigorously...and yes, he smeared peanut butter on the counter as he randomly decided to set his wooden spoon down when he was tired of stirring, etc. But he was a happy camper to be involved in this project; and from seeing the example of his big brother, I was again inspired to let David participate, knowing that one day, he too will be a genuine help. And, anyway, maximum productivity is not the goal. Joyful, loving memory-making is a much higher achievement, for sure!
The finished product: 4 of the 70 cookies we made for our church's outdoor nativity. We, of course, had to keep the "broken" ones at home since we couldn't give less than our best. Those broken ones sure tasted yummy, and for some reason didn't last very long around here. :)
3 comments:
So much fun =) the cookies look really yummy. I can see why they disappeared fast!!!! =)
Funny, I just blogged about making cookies too! (and we all stayed in pj's as well) I forgot about this kind of cookie... I need to add this one to my list.
Your boys are so sweet. They both look very happy to be helping Mommy in the kitchen.
Hey. I think Felicity and I ate quite a few of those after the nativity... I recognized the Hersey kisses w/ the caramel stripes. They were great! :)
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