A home starts in the kitchen, and families and friends are brought together by food.  Appetizers can awaken the senses, a good entree can soothe even the hottest of tempers, and love can be rekindled over a single bite of a decadent dessert.  I love standing in my kitchen, working in my kitchen, and even crying in my kitchen.  It is the beginning and the end of my day.  It is where many of our bonds are formed.

Switching from one kid to two and then three made having kids in my kitchen extremely chaotic and a little dangerous.  Eventually, I forbade children from being in my kitchen while I was cooking, which was at least 3 times a day.  I removed them from the center of my home, and instantly felt our bonds begin to fray.  My kids are the center of my world, and my heart just could not take this separation.

A few months ago at one of my MOPS meetings, I attended a presentation on cooking with your kids.  I sat in the front row with a mixture of cynicism and hope.  I thought to myself "she probably only has one kid, what does she know?"  As it turned out, she has four kids.  She had some solid suggestions, a few good tips, and at the end I'm certain she looked right at me and threw down an invisible gauntlet.  What choice did I have but to take the information and the double dog dare and vow to rescind my "no kids in the kitchen" policy for good!

So now, as the new year begins and my thoughts turn to resolutions, I have decided to renew and mend some of those fraying bonds with my children.  I resolve to not only invite them back into my kitchen, but to make it our kitchen!  For 2011, I am challenging myself to teach my daughter, who is 6, to plan, shop for, and prepare a breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert.  I will teach my 3 year old son to prepare a breakfast, lunch and dessert, and I will teach my 1 year old to prepare scrambled eggs. 

The coming months are sure to test my patience beyond its limits.  There will be many failures as well as many successes.  The kitchen will be destroyed and I'll permanently lose a bit of my sanity, but the rewards will also be many.  We will draw closer as a family.  We will create memories that will keep us laughing for a lifetime.  And, my children will gain skills that will give them confidence, impress their grandparents, and keep their tummies full.  Until January 1st 2012 I will write a new post every Saturday to share our experiences.  Wish me luck, I'm going to need it!