Independence

I have been working on making my boys more independent. They can get themselves a bowl of cereal and make themselves a peanut butter and jelly sandwich but this week I had them make their own mac and cheese. Not the most nutrient rich lunch there could be but it is better than what they normally make themselves. Ian and Henry fight over who is going to make it that day. Yes, they have had this almost everyday this week. Thank goodness Costco had the Annie's Organic Shells and cheese boxes there last week. (I am rather picky about the Mac and Cheese I buy. I hadn't bought them in years but when I saw the organic ones on the shelf a few months back I put a box or two in the basket and now my boys are addicts.) Henry was so excited when he saw that big box of his favorite treat come home with us.

The boys love it and ask for it all the time. Sophie won't touch the stuff and Molly usually goes for a bit of what ever is left. So instead of me making it I decided it was time for them to make it on their own. They now know how to boil water and then add the noodles. They love setting the timer so I told them to give it 6 min of boiling and then they add some frozen vegetables. We used to hear grumbling about the peas and carrots but now they just do it without even having to be reminded. I think they like the green there!

They get to set the timer again for 1 min to let them defrost.  Then they get to use the colonder to drain the noodles and veggies. One of them gets to add the butter and milk (They measure it themselves) to the hot pan and return it to the heat. Then there is usually a fight over who gets to add the cheese packet. Once that is done they make a mess spilling a bunch of noodles and peas all over the oven (this has only happened once actually) when they try to put the noodles back into the pan. They are still working on this one. I still usually help with this step.  All that is left is to mix and serve. They all like to sprinkle on a little extra parmesan cheese once it is distributed to all who are going to eat it. The whole box is gone and some vegetables made their way into their tummies so all are happy!

It may seem like a very simple task. But for these 5 and 7 year old boys this is a major step toward independence. I may have to set a limit as to how many times they can have this meal in a week but I hope they will naturally decide that the same meal every day for lunch is rather boring. So far that isn't the case. I think they love being able to cook all by themselves.

I need to remember to snap a few pictures of my little chefs tomorrow when they make another batch.