Little Baker Girl
I nanny my almost 3 year old granddaughter. I've been doing this since she was 3 months old. I love to cook and I thought it might be fun to teach my captive audience -- ahem -- youngest grandchild some of my awesome skills. At some point, after she learned to sit up unassisted, I began to put her on the kitchen island so she could observe while I cooked. Well, baked, Having an infant sit next to the stove top seemed imprudent.
At first I would compile all the ingredients and get everything into the bowl. I would hold her little hand around the handle of the spoon so she could "stir". Then I would put it in the pans, bake the stuff, get it cut up and then let her taste "her" creation. Her ability to actively participate in the tasks has expanded as time goes on and her confidence right along with it.
Lily has come to enjoy the ingredients involved in baking. As in, really enjoy them. She loves to feel them and taste them. Seriously. Every single one. Flour feels fine to run her fingers through and tastes great. Ditto sugar. Cocoa smells fabulous but she needs a milk chaser to get the taste out of her mouth. Baking soda has nothing going for it. It has no smell, tastes terrible and irritates her skin. The egg/brown sugar mixture, on the other hand. has a delightfully crunchy texture despite the decidedly odd mouth feel.(and, no, I did not let her do that on purpose!)
I think we could all learn from Lily. No matter how the these ingredients please her or not, she keeps on experimenting. She keeps on keeping on, always looking forward to that next taste test, never to let the baking soda slow her roll.
In our quest for Internet success, we all have to endure the tasks we don't like. We put them off, we drag our feet. We whine. We complain. Sometimes we even think...do I really want to continue if this is what I have to do every day? But let's keep one thing in mind as we eye (once again) The Awful, Terrible, No Good Task. Even if the baking soda leaves a bad taste in our mouth, we couldn't make a cookie without it.
All my best,
Cynthia
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