Bennett Crocker: My Little Sous Chef

Lately Bennett has really started to love helping me cook. Without fail, every time I start cooking, within a minute or two, Bennett will come running into the kicthen. He'll look up at me with his sweet, puppy eyes and say, "Can I help, Mommy?"

"Can I help?" Sounds innocent enough, right? WRONG! These three little words can really stress a Mama out! Because when Bennett helps, I can be positive that:

• We will be making a mess of cataclysmic proportions.


• Egg shells WILL end up in whatever we're cooking.


• It will take twice as long to make whatever we're cooking.


• I will probably burn at least one food item as I try to referee my sous chef.

But more importantly, I've been trying to remind myself that when Bennett helps I can also be positive that:

• We will laugh together and have fun.


• I am investing in my son in a way that is meaningful to him.


• We are day-by-day cultivating a lifelong bond as we share these little memories.


• My son will know that I love spending time with him and value his help.

Messes can always be cleaned up. Egg shells can always be meticulously picked out of the batter before it is mixed together (well, almost always). But Bennett won't always be little. He won't always hang on my every word and get uncontrollably excited just to help me make cookies. So I'm taking the road less traveled by -- the messy, flour-covered, curvy, bumpy, super-fun road. And (I'm hoping) it will make all the difference.



Bennett and I made a cake together last week. Here is a picture of the aftermath. I know it doens't look that messy, but trust me, it was!

*Note: Only Mommy touched the knife, of course!






And here is the finished product. If you want the recipe for the most delicious chocolate sheet cake you will ever taste, click here.