I had to laugh this morning 😆
Our children LOVE baked oatmeal! Brady (aka Breakfast Man) makes it for them most weekends, and its always a huge hit. Recently, as I’ve said, the big kids are very interested in cooking and baking, and want to get into it more than ever before! So this morning, Brady talked Laela through making baked oatmeal. She loved it, and did a great job. Her egg cracking needs some work 😉 but it was very cute, and it tasted great!
While she worked on that, Brady talked Dekker through brewing coffee. This wasn’t a first time, but still something that is good to oversee 😉 He got the filter, counted the scoops, etc. I was so proud of them both, working so hard and wanting to learn. And I was proud of Brady being SO patient to let them!
The kids spent the next half hour in the kitchen, staring 😳 No joke. Dekker watched the coffee brew, and Laela didn’t actually watch the oatmeal bake, but she watched the timer count down. Twenty. Five. Minutes. Ya, no joke.
I started to feel a touch like a horrible mother, because how ridiculously laaaaame are we that the kids are entertained by staring?? Have I trashed their brains somehow?? But then I remembered that they had cooked and prepared thing they were PROUD of!!! No wonder they wanted to wait for the finished product. I’m deciding not to question my parenting right now, and to rather just be thankful that I have content children who aren’t scratching at the doors in a big bad way just yet.
Dekker was excited when it was time for coffee. “Oh boy, I hope its good!”
And Laela swelled with pride when everyone thanked her for breakfast instead of me or Brady.
It was a good day. We may not be “homeschooling” but I’m pretty happy with our new learning curve.
I’m not sure what your perception of “homeschooling” is but cooking and baking and cleaning etc is 100% a part of what we do. We spend maybe 1hour on bookwork (on a full day) and the rest is hands on like that. And we do usually go out to do other stuff. For me a trip to the grocery store is a school field trip and we get together with other families and do gymnastics etc.
For me it’s not doing school at home but helping our kids learn all of the skills they need to be successful adults.
Also please read this as our way of doing it and not that I’m offended. I just don’t want anyone to misjudge homeschoolers, it happens a lot and this is not our normal either.
I definitely understand your comment 🙂 I don’t want to misjudge anyone, for sure! Lots of people around me have dove into structured curriculums, so I feel a bit out of that loop, but I’m loving our dynamic! My kids love to read and write and draw and play games, and now they want to cook and clean and help in a bigger way! I think its SUPER educational 😉 A good reminder not to compare myself to everyone, I suppose!