Wednesday in our casa means that my almost 10-year old daughter cooks dinner for the family. She has to come up with the grocery list, write it (in Chinese) for our house helper to pick up first thing in the morning, cut, prep and cook.
I've worked with her to be able to independently cook about 7 different dinners. She works through 2 or 3 until she feels like she can do it all by herself. Tonight, it was breakfast tacos with sausage and hash browns. She did it all by herself.
I see this as a win win for me. (Yes, that is my son clench fisted and angry about something. I left this picture in just to show you how real our life is on a daily basis. I've got no time for pretending we've got our act together). She is learning valuable skills in the kitchen and learning to serve her family.
I've told all of my children that at 8 years old, we start practicing more independent cooking and then by 9 they are assigned a specific night to cook. As I was unfolding my genius plan, Malachi was gazed over in thought and then announced that "Hey, wait a minute! We've got 5 kids, so that means that in a few years, you won't be cooking at all!!!"
Bingo.
