I love cooking with my son, but at 25 months there are still plenty of meals that don't have a suitable task for him or at least not enough to keep him feeling involved the whole time. That's why I love to bake with him. Even though I know we don't need sweets in our house because we both really love them (especially while I'm pregnant!) and Husband does not, meaning there's more for me and T to eat than we should. The process, the time with my son doing something we both enjoy, is worth the extra willpower (okay, really the extra calories) that comes with baking.
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| 21 Months Old |
T helps from the first line of the recipe until it's time to put the cake/cookies/bread in the oven. All I have to do is ask if he wants to bake with me, and he grabs a dining chair from around the table and pushes it into position at the kitchen island. As we measure the dry ingredients like flour and sugar, I show him how much we need on a large measuring cup, pointing to the line we are trying to reach and telling him the quantity. Then he uses a smaller measuring cup to scoop the ingredient while I hold the container for him. He scoops flour, and we end up with a light (or sometimes heavy) dusting on the floor, the chair, the counter and us. He knows we have to shake the big measuring cup to level it out and then check if we hit the target amount. Once we have enough, he pours the ingredient into a bowl. Sometimes he wants to sift the flour either with his sifter or a mesh strainer. As he sifts and pours the measured ingredient, some of the ingredient always ends up outside of the bowl, and so I eye-ball a little extra to throw in the bowl. Then, we start with the next ingredient.
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| 19 Months Old |
He loves to stir or whisk the ingredients together, to pour the dry ingredients into the wet and generally to be hands on with the whole process of mixing together our batter or dough. He stirs vigorously at times and likes to spoon clumps of the batter and hold it up high. At every step along the way, we lose some of the mixture or raw ingredients.
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| 25 Months Old |
When it comes time to add the eggs, he cracks them into a bowl, one at a time for me. He previously tried to complete the whole process himself but lately has been cracking the eggs and then allowing me to remove the shell. I'm trying to re-encourage him to complete the whole process. Still, he cannot get enough. After each egg, he enthusiastically calls out "MORE!" If he had his way, we would crack a whole dozen into every cake.
I try to keep all the ingredients out of his reach except the one we are using; otherwise, he will make his own recipes when he feels I'm taking too long getting something ready for him. He does have favorite ingredients like salt and baking soda, but he will even try to throw a bulb of garlic into the dough if it's within reach.
This is not precision baking like we are so often told by the professionals baking must be. There's not an exact ratio between ingredients that is carefully measured and perfectly executed. This is fun and messy and a great series of practical life activities... oh yeah, and it's delicious. Even without the precision, our baked goods are yummy!
I'll post soon about the many other activities that T loves in the kitchen when we are not baking. How do you get your kids involved in the kitchen? Do you have favorite recipes to make with them?
When T turned 2, we started focusing on toilet learning. This was not T's first exposure to the potty. At around 18 months, he started showing interest in the potty and signaling sometimes when he needed to pee or had a bowel movement. We purchased a BabyBjourn potty, placed it in our bathroom and encouraged him to sit on it. He would sit there, sometimes with clothes on and sometimes off. He also watched us use the toilet. He would signal to go to the restroom at restaurants and stores, but this quickly seemed to become more a ploy to go explore than actually use the potty because he stopped wanting to even sit on the big toilet. I felt that we were in his sensitive period for beginning toilet learning, which is defined in the Montessori method as 12 to 18 months, but we did not switch him to training pants at that time. Why you may ask? Well, I am not a stay at home mom so major decisions about my son are made with my mom, or at least with my mom in mind. She takes cares of my son while I work. I try to find middle ground with her although I'm not sure she would always agree with that statement. :-)
So at 2, we agreed to really focus on toilet learning. Our first phase was to switch T to wearing training pants when he's at home and awake. We frequently asked him if he needed to use the potty, and he generally said no. We would try unsuccessfully to lure him in there with books. He wet/soiled his training pants just like a diaper. He also fought us about putting on his training pants. He would cry, kick and scream unless we distracted him with what we were going to do after he got dressed. On a side note, I don't consider this an award, just a statement of fact to refocus my child's attention. This is not really new behavior for my son though when it comes to dressing. He tends to put up a running fight about diaper changes and getting dressed. While I try to encourage him to dress himself, he would generally prefer to run around naked... and so that's what we did.
Our next phase of toilet learning, which began around the time T turned 2 years 1 month old, was to skip the training pants completely. He now spends his awake hours at home without any underpants or pants on. We also relocated his potty to our kitchen so that it's really convenient to where he plays.
Next to his potty, we have a chair where we sit to read to him, a basket full of books, a flushable wet wipes container and a basket of his training pants for when we do need them. The first day we tried this new approach, T went to the potty on his own and used it multiple times. Once he has used the potty and we help him wipe, as needed, he carries the potty bowl to the bathroom, dumps it in the toilet, turns on the water for the sprayer we have attached to the toilet and sprays out the potty bowl while we hold it. Then he washes his hands. I should note that the distance from his potty in the kitchen to the bathroom toilet is significant, probably close to 50 feet. I am always a bit nervous watching him carry his potty, but he is very careful.
We do encourage T to sit on the potty regularly. We have the most success with this if we simply sit down and start reading a book next to the potty. Then he will usually come over and sit on the potty. He does not frequently use the potty in these moments yet though.
This bare bottom approach to toilet learning has not been 100% successful, nor would we expect it to be in the first couple weeks. We have had accidents. Sometimes T starts to pee and then goes to the potty to finish. Sometimes he pees completely on the floor. Other times, he goes to the potty before he starts. Thankfully, he has been more aware of his bowel movements. While this approach has been much more successful for us than using training pants, it comes with a lot more stress for the obvious reason of wanting to maintain a clean, sanitary house. You can say we are always on edge.
We also need to transition to an approach that will work outside of our home. If we take T outside to play or to run errands, we are back to square one. I have purchased a portable potty and a waterproof training pad for his car seat. My next step will be to put him in training pants when we go out and take him to the restroom as soon as we arrive anywhere. Of course, I'll also pack plenty of extra underpants and clothes.
I'll share more updates as we have them. If you have suggestions, please share them in the comments!
