Cooking together

A week or two ago, we went over to our friends' house for dinner. The difference was, our friend Katy taught Ava and Jocelyn how to cook a dinner all on their own. They made a kind of shepherd's pie, layering raw ground beef, creamy soup, frozen veggies, and tater tots. They even got to put their creation in the (not yet heated) oven. The dinner was delicious, but more importantly the girls seemed very proud that they were able to help fix a meal for us to eat. Tonight I used that as inspiration - I was making a taco skillet meal that involved browning meat, then adding soup, salsa, water, and torn pieces of tortillas. I called the girls up to the kitchen, and they proceeded to tear up the tortillas for me, as well as add the other ingredients to my skillet. (Molly sat in her excersaucer and made for a great supervisor.) Neither Ava nor Jocelyn cleaned their plate tonight (and I'll be honest, as a meal I myself only gave it a B-), but they both ATE. We are reaching a point where many nights Jocelyn refuses to even take a single bite of dinner, especially when it's something new or different. Ava is getting much better at trying new things, but I certainly saw the difference having a personal stake in the meal cooking makes at the dinner table. They didn't eat it all, but they ate more than they would have had they not helped me, and the time we shared making dinner together is as sweet as any concoction we could create.