In the Kitchen with Eric

On Friday, it was sunny, but cold out. Much too blustery to go outside and actually enjoy being out there. It was the kind of wind that sent a disappointing chill through your body because as much as it looked like spring, it certainly did not feel like spring. To warm ourselves up, after lunch Eric and I got out the big bowls and the big spatulas and heated up the oven.

I often feel like I spend far too much time getting things done and working on "chores" instead of truly enjoying my children. This afternoon, I put aside all the things that needed done and put - "baking cookies with my boy" on the to-do list. I set out to make Soft Molasses Cookies . . . Eric wrinkled his nose at this suggestion. I told him he had Molasses Cookies at his Great Grandma's one day. Yes, he remembered. "Well," he said, "I ate them, but I didn't really like them." Shocked and impressed all at once. He had enough manners not to announce his dislike. He insisted on Chocolate Chip. We made a compromise, first  the Molasses Cookies, and then on to chocolate chip. Eric is a natural in the kitchen. He adds ingredients, he stirs, and he thinks about how it all works. Of course he landed on the million dollar question, "when can I break the eggs?" Um. Well.... I really dread my children breaking eggs. I'm not sure why the hesitation, but I am just sure it's going to be a disaster. After grappling for an answer, I came up with, "well, I just let your sister do it a couple of weeks ago for the first time. So, I suppose you will have to be 8." "So, three more years," my mathematical boy responded, "2-0-15, right?" He kept asking about when we would be getting on to making Chocolate Chip Cookies, and I said at one point, "you have a one track mind." He responded, "I only have one brain."

We forged ahead with the baking and he added ingredients and mixed up his coveted chocolate chip cookies. He then got out two spoons - one for me and one for him - to drop his cookies onto the sheets. After a couple tries, he decided to just use his fingers - much easier that way he decided. He then went on to fill the rest of the cookies sheets as they popped out of the oven. I was quite impressed with his ability to stick with the task and also his ability to line up 12 cookies in neat little rows on the sheets. "12 makes something like a bushel, right?" he asked.

He's such a good little baker. He's learning so much about it. He asks questions about why the brown sugar "sticks together" and the white sugar does not. Questions like that are exactly what will make him a good baker. It's nice to see the common interests and thinking that he and I share. He's a good common sense thinker and it's quite refreshing.

As much as Eric's constant chatter, questions, and constant pondering often wear me out, his mind is  amazing. I need to take afternoons like this to enjoy his thinking and his wit, albeit he hardly knows how witty he is. What 5 year old thinks about cracking eggs in 2-0-15? Just the other week he gave me reason to appreciate my constant chatter box. It had a been a long trying day with a fussy teething baby. I had flopped down in the chair to nurse Easton when Eric broke out in a series of questions. Why this - why that. He asked a question about why Sissy does something or other, and I tiredly responded with, "I don't know. Why do you ask so many questions?" He very seriously looked at me and said, "Because I'm trying to figure things out."

Now, who can argue with that?