I want to give a little back story on why I automatically said no. I am the third oldest child and oldest girl out of 7 kids born to a single mom. At the age of 8 I had to cook food for myself and my younger sister (at that time she was only one younger than me). My mom was always gone and I had no choice. I swear if you were to ask anyone that knew me when I was younger, I always said the same thing, when I get older I’m eating out all the time and when I have kids they are going to be stuck with can food and noodles. (don’t worry I can and actually do cook real food). LOL. I don’t know if starting out so young it what made me hate cooking or not but that’s my story and I'm sticking with it. Anyway, I’ve always thought that cooking is too much of a responsibility for a kid and it's just one step to rushing them into growing up. But is my son to young? I mean 12 is better than 8 right?
So my question today is 12 to young for cooking?
Yes they are ready for cooking. Now when i say cooking that could mean a whole slew of recipes, right? You just have to pick and choose. If they wanted to cook something simple like getting the bacon ready for breakfast, or making toast, or simply helping beat the eggs for the omelets, then id say show them once and let em at it. Now when it come's to actually pouring the egg into the pan, folding it, and flipping it, that will take practice. Couple of supervised run through's with mom at their backs should do the trick and even though your not gonna wanna trust them, you proally shouldn't, but let them have thier space. I'd say stay in a ten to twenty foot radius. The fact that your kids want to learn these things already tells me your being a great mother. I was always the son who had to pick up the slack so when food was being made, i just looked at it as another way my mom could be the BosS of making eggs and giving me headaches. I normally hide in the basement playing video games till food was ready. i eventually taught myself. All I'm saying is feed them but don't keep feedin them. They gotta learn to fly someday.
ReplyDeleteI say yes they should be ready to cook. Just make sure to supervise them and give them easy ones to start with breakfast foods. Walk them step by step to make sure they learn what you taught them.
ReplyDeleteTry to limit them cooking a lot though, try to teach them fundamentals of the kitchen rather than trying to learn every recipe! :D
As an older mother of two young daughters, I say YES!! LET THEM COOK! My 7 and 9 year old daughters are able to do scrambled eggs in the microwave and toast for themselves. I do limit what they are able to do in the kitchen. I will also pick out recipes for them that I choose off the internet that are kid friendly. My point of view is that I am preparing them for life without me. I want them to be independent and be able to fend for themselves. What better starting point than to be able to cook yourself a nice, healthy, satisfying meal?
ReplyDeleteI kinda of relate to what you mean about having to start cooking at a young age. My mom at the time wasn't a single parent (had a step-father) but did start to teach me how to cook when I was about 7 or 8 years old. By the time I was 12 or 13 years old, I could actually make a lasagne by myself (quite interesting). We all have childhood demons that sometimes carries into our adulthood in a positive or negative way. If I may say....."it sounds like you was traumatized by the cooking out of obligation syndrome", which I totally get.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I think you might want to change your view point when it comes to your children learning how to cook. Don't let the past dictate your future. Children even younger than 8 years old should be apart of the cooking process, they can help with prepping food or even letting them make their own sandwiches at that age can be fun for them and a help for you. I think especially young boys your sons age should be exposed to learning how to cook so that they can be self-sufficient when they become adults living out on their own, not having to rely on a woman to do that for them. Back in the day it was always the woman's responsibility to provide meals for their family that dynamic has changed a lot, since woman now have to work full-time jobs.
Therefore, why not try and view teaching your children how to cook as an opportunity to spend some fun and quality time with them. Cooking together as a family will help you to relieve some stress for being the sole person preparing meals and it will also, deepen your children's appreciation for You by them first hand seeing how much work goes into cooking. Make it an enjoyable experience not a daunting one:)
I gotta say, I agree with the previous posts here. I essentially raised myself and my little sister do to a Mother who was never home and a mentally and physically disabled father. Cooking all the time might have felt like a drag, but it was a good thing I began to learn so young. It helped me learn a sense of independence at that young age and it gave me foundation to build my independent life on. I wish I had some there in those years guiding my hand and helping me along and spending time whit me. Cooking is something your never too old for and is always an amazing activity when shared with your family. My sister, because of my insistence to teach her everything I knew about everything when I was growing up (my parents weren't exactly there to do it) has grown into a healthy love of the culinary arts and has been working hard to get into GCIT's honors culinary program so she can complete her schooling at NJIT's Culinary Institute and has a great shot at it because of her head-start on the other children from what she was taught when she was younger.
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