A Future Career?

I think I may have a chef in the making!  At two, creeping up on three, Khaila LOVES to cook!  At first, I was able to appease her desire with an empty bowl and spoon on the floor while I made dinner.  This week, she has become unsatisfied by that.  Tuesday, she pushed a chair from the dining room into the kitchen and stood to watch me.  “Me cook!” she demanded as I attempted to make the dinner of champion work outside the home moms, Hamburger Helper.

My first thought was, “Fat chance, kiddo,” but I quickly decided that “what the hell” was a better way to go.  I brought the chair over to the stove, she stood up and stirred dinner.  The whole time, I had one hand around her waist and the other holding her free hand to keep her from touching the pot.

“Hey, this isn’t so bad!” I thought.  Then it was time to put the lid on.  Two years old is too young to teach the concept of “cover and simmer”.  Immediately, we went into meltdown mode.  Desperate to regain sanity, I scoured the cupboards to see if we had anything else we could cook to go along with dinner.  Yes, I know that it may not have been the best way to handle a tantrum, but after a crappy day at work (a driver had an “incident” in a rough part of town), I was in no mood to ride out the tantrum or have her decide she was going to cook without me near her.

So, I pulled out the only thing I could, a Funfetti cake mix, and a big mixing bowl.  Two years old is apparently also too young to comprehend the fact that you have to BAKE a cake before you can eat it.  We had a minor tantrum starting when the timer for dinner went off.  She happily went to her Dora table to eat, reminding me the entire way that we were eating “Khaila dinner” and that she had cooked.  When daddy got home from work, she ran to let him know what she had done.

Tonight was round two.  Again, I let her stir dinner (moving on up, beef and rice this time).  I also helped her dump the canned veggies in, and she stirred the rice into the mix.  The girl scares me.  I don’t remember telling her what boiling liquid is, but as the water began to boil, she looked at me and said, “Mommy, boil water.”

I’m going to keep a close eye on her, and she’s already picking up that she can only be by the stove if I say it’s okay, but I think I’m going to roll with this one.  When she decides she doesn’t want to cook with me anymore, that’s okay.  I’ll be sad, but I’ll get over it.  One of the best memories I have is being a small child, probably no more than six or seven, cooking with my great grandmother.  Maybe someday she’ll help her son or daughter cook, thinking back to when she and I shared the task.

Attempting to Potty Train

It’s been over a week since we decided to give potty training a try.  K seems ready, everyone agrees that she seems ready.  When she goes, she tells someone immediately.  She has the process down to an art, telling you what to grab next.  For instance, if her backside is a bit raw, she can feel that and will tell you to get the cream.

The other thing she is, stubborn!  I know she can do it, she does it at the sitter’s house unless she’s having a particularly bull-headed day.  The sitter was amazed the first time she headed down the hall and announced that she had to go potty.  She even poops in the potty, which I’m told is usually the last thing kids want to do.   Up until today, she only had a couple of accidents.  Today, she was being a turkey, and didn’t use the potty once.

At home and at Nana’s, it’s a different story.  She’ll sit on the potty, but she won’t go.  It’s like she’ll hold it until she’s back in her pull-up or training pants and then go.  It’s beginning to frustrate me beyond belief because I know that she *can* do it, she just won’t!