Remember the post I wrote about how stressful I find crafting with the kids? Well, let me regurgitate that post, and substitute 'baking' for 'crafting'. A couple of days ago we made sugar cookies so we could cut them out with our little cutters. My favourite bit was when Maia started a tug of war with me when I was measuring a cup of flour, wrenched it out of my hand and threw it over her shoulder.
My second favourite bit has been the intervening 72 hours where Jamie has begged to eat the cookies at ten second intervals.
I had to edit myself out of these pictures because I looked so furious it would have scared you. Plus my fleece leisurewear would have made you insanely jealous (yes, you, @mockduck). So what's the consensus, is baking with kids any more fun than crafting with kids? Does anyone want to share baking tales to console me that I'm not alone?
You are too funny! I had to laugh at this blog post. It is so true and you are totally not alone. Baking with a 6 and 2 year old requires at least 2 glasses of wine before hand. As for your fleece leisure suit, I took DD2 to soccer in mine yesterday. I actually left the house dressed that way. I swore I would never do that, oh well, it was 17 degrees outside and I was warm and cozy!
ReplyDeletebaking with kids is best done well fortified with wine or vodka,might not hurt if the kiddos have a little sip either...you are brave to even attempt it...thank you for making me laugh this morning, am immersed in my own version of hell trying to make pickles with a 2 year old under my feet.
ReplyDeleteI learned early on that baking with two kids was rarely a good idea... it can be fun though if you can find a way to do it one on one... (says me with a six year old and a four year old)
ReplyDeleteI get upset enough with myself for making mistakes when I bake or craft, that it is unimaginable to add kids to the mix. I have to wait until I am having a really calm, patient day.
ReplyDeleteMy MIL was extra smart this year. She made the cut-out cookies herself and then just let the girls decorate them. I'm okay with the decorating part, but trying to scrape the dough up from the table once you realize that it is a) not floured enough and b) rolled too thin is not my finest hour.
I let my 9 y.o. and her friends do crafting at her slumber party. I had to leave the room. I want her to find her own style, but it's really hard for me not to control everything to my taste.
Well, with just one child, I almost lost my patience as she insisted on rolling the dough to 1mm or so, then insisted on cutting out every shape and lifting it, thus letting them fall down and deshape themselves. My solution: let them eat dough. While they eat dough you should have enough time to do some cookies. What you don't manage, do after bedtime. Easy.
ReplyDeleteWith very simple recipes it kind of works now. She loves to have a task, so while she stirs, I can measure etc. Same with cooking. She'll peel an onion while I cut the veg.
argh! So not any fun. My 3 year old daughter insists on 'helping' whenever I cook anything- and if there are measuring cups involved? Forget it- she's pulling a chair over to 'help.' She's been keen on helping since she was about 1 so by now she's not half bad- but she kills me when she wants to stir and doesn't actually succeed in stirring at all. she just moves the spoon or whisk back and forth not doing anything! Kills me. I'm trying to be better. It is not easy, esp. stone sober. The crafting thing- I just let them go and do my own thing next to them. Then clean it up later. Sometimes I don't even clean b/c we have 2 dogs and my husband is out of town often.
ReplyDeleteI really thought I was a bad parent because I am in no way interested in letting my kid 'help' me cook or bake. I'm glad to know i'm not alone.
ReplyDeleteRylee is too young to help now, but when my nieces were young we just did decorating together. The cake or cookies or whatever would be all complete and we would work together on frosting, sprinkles, etc. It was much, much less stressful. And you've never seen such lovely, sugary cookies. :)
ReplyDeleteBut it's fuuuuuuuun! I'm starting to think I'm a bit of a freak... The last time we baked, Munchkin sat in her highchair and had her own lump of biscuit dough, and I had a lump of dough on the worktop. We took it in turns to use the rolling pin and the biscuit cutters, and I ended up with some nice cookies that we put in the oven, and she had a great time beating the living daylights out of the dough with the rolling pin, and looking at the biscuit cutters but not using them. She was perfectly happy to put her dough in the bin afterwards and eat my biscuits. Everyone's a winner!
ReplyDeleteFleece is the only way forward (am sitting in a freezing office at the moment as well).
ReplyDeletebaking I can do.. the Boy is pretty good about helping, and can be easily bribed with spoonsfulls of cookie dough, or cake mix... its easier if you measure things out before you involve any small demons.
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