I Was Too Busy to Make Dinner, So My Son…

Readers — Here’s a guest post that makes us happy, happy, happy. (And a little hungry.)

Krista Whipple lives with her husband and three children in Southern Utah. She is a Montessori theatre teacher and graduate student working on her Master’s in School Counseling. She’s also an artist, writer, nature lover, and “Free-Range” parent committed to allowing her kids to take a few risks and play, learn, and explore their big messy world.  Krista writes:

I’m proud to have considered myself a Let Grow parent from the very beginning.

My kids have been helping in the kitchen since they were toddlers, and by second grade they could all do basic things on their own like scramble eggs, bake cookies, and chop veggies (with a sharp knife even!).

I’m currently a graduate student, and this summer I had to take several intensive classes with a heavy schedule. This meant that two days a week I was in class from 8am to 8pm! “Intensive” was an understatement!

One evening, on one of those long days, my 11-year-old son came into my Zoom cave and asked what was for dinner. I still had 3 hours of class left so I told him to just go find something in the kitchen. I figured he’d probably eat cereal for dinner, and I’d go to bed trying not to feel too guilty about that.

Well, about 30 minutes later, he came back to my room to deliver a full plate of tacos he’d made himself! He’d seasoned and cooked the beef, chopped up the veggies, grated the cheese, baked the shells, and made up his own signature sauce from scratch to top it all off! He even made enough for his siblings so they didn’t starve too.

It was actually delicious, and not just in the “delicious for a beginner” way. It was really good! He’s now in charge of making family dinner by himself one night a week, and his cooking skills are getting better and better every time.

So if any parents reading are still looking for a reason to give their kids some independence, you should consider it might just result in your kid making you an amazing dinner on a busy night without being asked. I know I’m 100% SOLD!  — Krista

NOTE: If you take Krista’s cue and have your kids start doing some new things on their own, for gosh’ sake, enter our Let Grow Independence Challenge! Send us a photo or video of your kid doing something independently and they could win $300. Send us YOUR story of stepping back and you could win $100! ENTER HERE. Deadline: Aug. 14.