Teaching Cooking and Meal Planning

I have read all of these fantastic blogs of other moms with 9 or 10 kids that just have it all together. Their kids are organized in cooking, cleaning, and doing their own laundry. I am not that mom. I have struggled to get my 2 to 3 oldest to clean bathrooms and do laundry over the last three years while wondering how in the world am I supposed to add cooking into the mix. I fear that my kids will not grow up and be able to do the basic house keeping chores to keep their own homes running because I am not making it work now.

Every attempt I have made to get Ruth and Kate to cook meals has completely failed up until now. I decided to use a little manipulation to get those slackers involved. I told Ruth and Kate that if they cooked one meal by themselves and helped with most of the others each week, I would clean their bathroom and they could rotate with Johnny every three weeks cleaning the downstairs half bath. They took me up on it.

Ruth and Kate are now required to help in the meal planning and cooking. They have been doing it for three weeks. Things are working out. They are planning for and making dinners without help. I was thinking I would never see the day that this happened.

I am still in no way like those other moms that can get their kids to clean hard bathrooms and cook and do laundry and and and. But hey, at least I am making progress.

There is one part in all of this that makes me feel pretty good. One week Ruth and Kate have to plan the menu and then we shop for all of the ingredients. The next week, they have to plan the menu using only what we have available at home-- no shopping allowed. I do think both menu planning skills are worth while.

Now, I am just hoping that in a few more years, I can convince them that they can clean bathrooms and cook and do laundry and babysit and get all of their homework done and practice their music and do extra-curricular stuff, etc. For now, I'll just take what I can get.