I married into a large family with lots of nieces and nephews.
I have one sister and 2 nieces, but I lived in a different state when the girls were growing up, so I wasn't so much involved with them as little kids.
Now I had an entire crowd of small people to get to know, and new ones being added all the time.
Since discussions of the latest New York Times bestsellers or the newest movies were out of the question, I decided that inviting them to come cook with me might be a better way to get to know them.
I promised the moms I'd stay out of the alcohol cupboard and that they could come along if they liked (most saw it as a gift to them to have an afternoon without their darlings), and we started to plan.
After a few mishaps but a generally good time had by all, these area few of the things I learned.
1.
Plan, plan, plan and make lists.
You want to know exactly what you're going to be cooking.
This, of course, is important whenever you're cooking, but if you're going to have a gaggle of little kids to entertain, you'll want to have as much under control as possible.
Because you realize of course that there's going to be very little under your control once the little ones get going.
2.
Be sure to include the kids, as much as possible, in the planning.
Ask them what kinds of cookies they want to make and what part of the cooking interests them most (i.
e.
, mixing, forming, rolling, decorating, etc.
).
The more you involve them in the planning stage, the more involved they'll be in the doing.
You certainly don't want one of the little darlings pouting in the corner because the thing they want to do isn't a part of the day's activities (although chances are this will happen anyway, just so you know).
3.
Make sure you're relaxed and perfectly okay with the fact that you're going to have a bunch of little people in your kitchen -- little people who don't have a clue or a care about keeping the kitchen clean.
That's not their job, and you must be okay with the thought of a thoroughly demolished kitchen.
4.
I hate to bring it up, and you're going to hate hearing it, but you must have a well stocked first aid kit - bandages and creams, certainly.
Knock wood that nothing happens, but prepare, prepare, prepare.
Little fingers can get caught in things, and little bodies dashing around won't be necessarily thinking about those hot pans coming out of the oven.
And you're probably going to step on one of them.
Just get used to the idea.
5.
Take out your planning list to make your grocery shopping list.
When in doubt, buy too much.
Remember, this is your chance to bond with the little darlings, so spending a bit more than you have to is worth it.
Also, you don't want to be in a situation of running out of stuff and facing those angels who are in tears because they can't make what is now their very, very favorite thing in the whole entire world, sniff, sniff.
You can't very well leave them alone to run out and get whatever it is.
Nor is it likely sending someone else to get the whatever-it-is will be a good idea.
You want to avoid as many little dramas as you can.
6.
Be sure to encourage the little ones to bring along a toy.
Don't think they're going to stay fascinated with cookies for an entire afternoon.
Somebody is going to get bored.
Trying to figure out how to amuse little whiny Mary while trying to figure out how Tommy got all that frosting in his hair is not fun.
Trust me, it's a recipe for breaking your vow to stay out of the liquor cabinet.
7.
Do your best to kid-proof the kitchen and work area.
By this I mean try to figure out what you can do to minimize the potential mess.
Notice I said minimize.
As noted above, you must expect -- and be okay with -- the fact that your kitchen is going to get messy and dirty.
You can cut down some of that by covering as many surfaces as reasonable.
I use a couple of sheets over the tables we use for mixing and decorating, and I have a good selection of washable kitchen mats that go on the floor.
I also try to sweep around the mess, if I can, although this is a goal not often reached.
The important thing here is that you are well-prepared for your outing with the munchkins.
And that you honestly believe you can reach a level of enjoying yourself.
If the thought of all this mess and chaos makes you break out in a sweat of terror, you probably should figure out another way to bond with your small relatives.
It can, though, be a great time for everybody.
Plus, if you do this right, you'll end up with a nice stash of cookies.
I have one sister and 2 nieces, but I lived in a different state when the girls were growing up, so I wasn't so much involved with them as little kids.
Now I had an entire crowd of small people to get to know, and new ones being added all the time.
Since discussions of the latest New York Times bestsellers or the newest movies were out of the question, I decided that inviting them to come cook with me might be a better way to get to know them.
I promised the moms I'd stay out of the alcohol cupboard and that they could come along if they liked (most saw it as a gift to them to have an afternoon without their darlings), and we started to plan.
After a few mishaps but a generally good time had by all, these area few of the things I learned.
1.
Plan, plan, plan and make lists.
You want to know exactly what you're going to be cooking.
This, of course, is important whenever you're cooking, but if you're going to have a gaggle of little kids to entertain, you'll want to have as much under control as possible.
Because you realize of course that there's going to be very little under your control once the little ones get going.
2.
Be sure to include the kids, as much as possible, in the planning.
Ask them what kinds of cookies they want to make and what part of the cooking interests them most (i.
e.
, mixing, forming, rolling, decorating, etc.
).
The more you involve them in the planning stage, the more involved they'll be in the doing.
You certainly don't want one of the little darlings pouting in the corner because the thing they want to do isn't a part of the day's activities (although chances are this will happen anyway, just so you know).
3.
Make sure you're relaxed and perfectly okay with the fact that you're going to have a bunch of little people in your kitchen -- little people who don't have a clue or a care about keeping the kitchen clean.
That's not their job, and you must be okay with the thought of a thoroughly demolished kitchen.
4.
I hate to bring it up, and you're going to hate hearing it, but you must have a well stocked first aid kit - bandages and creams, certainly.
Knock wood that nothing happens, but prepare, prepare, prepare.
Little fingers can get caught in things, and little bodies dashing around won't be necessarily thinking about those hot pans coming out of the oven.
And you're probably going to step on one of them.
Just get used to the idea.
5.
Take out your planning list to make your grocery shopping list.
When in doubt, buy too much.
Remember, this is your chance to bond with the little darlings, so spending a bit more than you have to is worth it.
Also, you don't want to be in a situation of running out of stuff and facing those angels who are in tears because they can't make what is now their very, very favorite thing in the whole entire world, sniff, sniff.
You can't very well leave them alone to run out and get whatever it is.
Nor is it likely sending someone else to get the whatever-it-is will be a good idea.
You want to avoid as many little dramas as you can.
6.
Be sure to encourage the little ones to bring along a toy.
Don't think they're going to stay fascinated with cookies for an entire afternoon.
Somebody is going to get bored.
Trying to figure out how to amuse little whiny Mary while trying to figure out how Tommy got all that frosting in his hair is not fun.
Trust me, it's a recipe for breaking your vow to stay out of the liquor cabinet.
7.
Do your best to kid-proof the kitchen and work area.
By this I mean try to figure out what you can do to minimize the potential mess.
Notice I said minimize.
As noted above, you must expect -- and be okay with -- the fact that your kitchen is going to get messy and dirty.
You can cut down some of that by covering as many surfaces as reasonable.
I use a couple of sheets over the tables we use for mixing and decorating, and I have a good selection of washable kitchen mats that go on the floor.
I also try to sweep around the mess, if I can, although this is a goal not often reached.
The important thing here is that you are well-prepared for your outing with the munchkins.
And that you honestly believe you can reach a level of enjoying yourself.
If the thought of all this mess and chaos makes you break out in a sweat of terror, you probably should figure out another way to bond with your small relatives.
It can, though, be a great time for everybody.
Plus, if you do this right, you'll end up with a nice stash of cookies.
Source...