Bakin'

Sometimes as a Mother you are very proud of your children. Like when your son gives a little girl a hug that he has never met before because she is crying. Or when he helps cleaning up even without asking him. Or when he poops on the potty for the first time or when they roll over for the first time. When they are polite and when they give others their toys and share even though you can tell that they would rather play with the toy themselves. There are lots of times as a Mom that you are extremely proud of your children.

There are also times as a Mom that you are proud of yourself. Sadly these moments are fewer and far between then you being proud of your children. I think society makes us believe that we are never perfect enough as parents so even the smallest accomplishments we never feel proud of because in our mind we're thinking 'I still could have done a little bit more or did it a little bit better'. As a Mom I've learned that sometimes we just have to give ourselves a break and be proud of the little things we accomplish, even if other people think we are crazy for being proud of something so simple. Like being proud that you made it out of the door by 10AM with two kids. Or being proud that you did not go insane sitting on a kiddy stool all day long while your son sits on the toilet trying to learn to pee. You can be proud that you made it through the grocery store in one piece without any major meltdowns. You can be proud that you made it through labor without pain meds, or made it through labor at all for that matter even with pain meds. Heck, be proud that you carried a baby for nine months and didn't go insane while pregnant (even if maybe you did go insane, you came out on the other side OK) :)

I have been going to a Mom's Group every Tuesday for the last few weeks. This last Tuesday was our last session for the fall which I was rather sad about. I have come to know a lady there who has mentioned to me on a few occasions that she thinks it's awesome that I like to bake and cook with my kids. See in our household Gabriel, and even on occasion Eli, love to help in the kitchen. Eli likes to sit in his bumbo seat and watch the whole process and Gabriel loves loves LOVES to help and watch (and eat!).

His treat today was celery with peanut butter. I was trying to counter act the cookie dough he sneaked with something healthy:)

I've never thought that it was something to be proud of, it's just something that we do and enjoy doing together.

Today I was making cookies with Gabriel and I was thinking about all the extra effort it took to have Gabriel help. I mean really. Baking with kids takes a lot of patients. They want to help with absolutely everything and it creates a mess. A BIG mess at that. I could whip together dinners and baked goods in half the amount of time if I didn't have Gabriel helping me. If Gabriel didn't help me then I wouldn't have to plan on chopping up extra carrots and peppers and broccoli because he is going to eat half of it. I wouldn't have to pick out egg shells from cracking eggs in a bowl because I let him help. I wouldn't have flour all over my flour because he wanted to help dump it in the bowl. And clean up would be so much less work because there wouldn't be much to clean up. But I know that my kids love to help in the kitchen and it gives them immense joy so to me it's all worth it and in return gives me immense joy as well. So today I decided that I should be proud of myself for cooking and baking with my kids.

And the result?

It is oh so sweet!