by Heather Lang
A few years ago, my family decided to dump cable and satellite to cut back on some family living expenses. We figured we would try using streaming services instead to see how that goes. The only one who was really nervous about the move was my husband. Even though he is rarely home to watch television, it's how he unwinds. When he finally agreed to give it a try, I was ecstatic about the lower bills. I’m happy to report things have been going smoothly.
All three of my kids always had a desire to be in the kitchen helping, creating, cutting, and preparing, and one of our favorite things to watch together are cooking shows. Any kind of cooking shows are fun, but especially the competition cooking shows. Recently the kids and I have discovered NAILED IT (a series on Netflix) where professional bakers create these miraculous creations while home-based inexperienced competitors try to re-create the masterpiece.
Some of my friends are surprised by how much I let my kids do in the kitchen and are even more shocked that my OCD tendencies stay in check as they use every bowl and utensil and often get flour all over the kitchen. Cooking teaches invaluable lessons, but the kids just think they are having fun. Some of those lesson include, patience, imagination, mathematics, reading, confidence, measuring, and having a steady hand. Most of all, it gives my kids a sense of pride in knowing that they did something completely on their own. Over the course of a few years my kids have made many creations that take lots of thought, time, patience and concentration to make their own masterpieces.
You know the saying we eat with our eyes first? Well food art has become widely popular and my kids have had a blast trying to come up with some of their own food art “pin-worthy” designs. When baking, we like to use our own fresh duck eggs to give it that extra punch and richness while adding air to the baked goods. Some of the time they find inspiration from Pinterest, but mostly they come up with their own ideas from watching the cooking shows. I will be honest: Some things turn out splendid while others are a FAILED IT wreck, but either way they did it while learning along the way. Don’t be afraid to let your kids fail sometimes in life. That’s just part of life. Let them try new things, explore, go out of their comfort zone, let them learn to do things on their own. Don’t hold them back. Push them forward because these are the times each of you will remember.
