I overslept again. He stood next to my bed whispering, “Mama, mama! Can we eat yet?” I fumbled around for my phone to check the time when he said my alarm went off over an hour ago. They thought I needed the rest so they didn’t wake me.

How kind.

But now six little tummies were starving and I should’ve already started the day. My little helpers followed me, not waiting for instructions as they pulled out the eggs, sausage, spinach, and frozen berries. 

Breakfast burritos and smoothies are one of their favorite morning meals and now they make it on their own. 

It wasn’t always that way. Teaching kids to cook is always messy and takes twice as long. But I have fond memories of learning to cook in preschool in south Florida. My parents even kept a kindergarten cookbook my teacher created of our classroom recipes. We had a large kitchen in the classroom and often learned to make simple recipes.

I wanted my kids to have the same experience.

Ok, really, I wanted them to make their own meals. 

So I taught them. But they love it so my 9, 10, & 12-year-olds often make entire meals for us. Which is super awesome when the 7-year-old tried following in their footsteps and created a meal of powdered sugar covered Fritos and peanut butter and jelly roll-ups. 

  
Regardless of the menu, I firmly believe teaching children cooking skills is a great life skill for them. Yes, it takes more time. Of course, it’s messy. Yes, you’ll have that child who creates their own recipe and it explodes in the oven. 

But it’s so worth it. For them, because one day they’ll appreciate your sacrifice and the struggle. For you, because you’ll likely reap the benefit of growing small chefs. And who knows, maybe they’ll be blessings to all the people who will one day enjoy a meal they’ve prepared. 

Want to learn our favorite recipes? Tune in for the next In Real Life post on Friday!