"Would you like to help Granny make some brownies?", I asked Princess Leia. A head-nod was all that I needed and she and I set out to make it happen. Now, being a whiskered Granny, I know that one way to keep a child occupied, while ingredients and other items are readied, is to let the child play with water in the kitchen sink. As luck would have it, Princess Leia is one of those children.
I fetched the stool - the first time - that would give her safe access to the counter and sink. After our baking experience, she has found multiple reasons to get "her" stool and place it right up to the kitchen sink/counter area. We had a great time preparing the brownie batter. She proved to be quite skilled at dumping the water, oil, dry ingredients and chocolate syrup into the mixing bowl. She also displayed superb fine-motor skills when it came to stirring the batter, but, I would have to say, she showed her extreme talent when it came to testing the brownie batter with a small teaspoon. With a toothy grin and battered (in this case, literally battered.....not beaten) face, she proclaimed that the batter was very tasty. She then "helped" rinse all of the baking utensils and bowls, using a number of paper towels, all the while being "supervised" by her two babies, seated on either side of the sink.
After our baking time together, she became even more eager to "help" and was quite obliging to assist in preparing dinner. She brought her stool to the counter and became an assistant chef, helping to put some of the broccoli in a baggie and the rest in a colander, which she then rinsed very capably with water. Next she discovered that I had sliced up an apple to eat during dinner. She brought her stool back to the counter and proceeded to "help" place the apple slices in a baggie.....but then she thought better of that, dumped the apple slices back onto the cutting board, and put all of the slices in the colander, which she then pronounced should be taken out to Gramps, who was grilling on the deck. With her little purple "jellies" clicking away on the hardwood floor, she marched out onto the deck, placed the colander down on the deck and offered herself and Gramps a few apple slices before dinner. As the resident granny on premise, I decided that a few apple slices before dinner was not the worst thing in the world with which to "spoil" her dinner.
After dinner, Gramps washed the dishes, ably assisted by Princess Leia, who used her paper towels to wash and rinse everything, accompanied by both Gramps and Princess Leia saying, over and over, "Scrubby, scrubby, scrubby."
Now she has been "scrubbied, scrubbied, scrubbied" and has delighted Gramps with her water-pouring skills in the bathtub. I honestly do not know who sounds like they are having more fun.....Princess Leia in the tub or Gramps, watching her.
Priceless.
Ancora imparo
