Teachable Moments

There was no school yesterday for the lil one.  Usually PA days (as they call them around here) are on a Friday -- sometimes a Monday -- so the lil one stays with her mom.  Wednesday no school day kinda screws up that plan.

I made up my mind if we were both gonna survive this day I had to have a plan.... children's TV shows tend to give me a headache (seriously) and make me cranky.  So I postponed baking day to Wednesday.

First we made butterscotch squares -- and then we made a new recipe Banana Chocolate Chip cookies.  The lil one LOVES the cookies -- thank god!!  cause I think they are disgusting.

Baking proved to be a teachable moment.  I was reading out loud the ingredients -- so 1 1/4cups of flour -- 1/8 tsp of salt etc.  The lil one was soon reading the numbers on the measuring spoons.  It was a natural segue to a small math lesson.  We talked about 1/4 means it takes 4 whatevers to make 1 whole ........ 1/3 means it takes 3 whatevers to make 1 whole.  She seemed fascinated by the idea -- so we carried it through to dividing pizza to feed the family -- sharing apples etc.  Turned out to be a fun time........... 

Then when the cookies were in the oven baking -- and it was time to wash up the cooking dishes -- I called the lil one from playing to come and help.  She pulled her stool up to the sink and as I washed the dishes she rinsed them and put them on the tray to dry.  At one point she started giggling and said "I am Cinderella and you are the wicked stepmother"....... We both had a good laugh over that and I chased her around the kitchen to tickle her saying "here comes the wicked stepmother!!"

After lunch we played a new game she got from "Santa" called 'Bouncing Monkeys' -- the premise is to catapult your plastic monkeys  onto the tree leaves .........not an easy game -- but it did make us laugh.

Finally Dad came home ........ and I collapsed on the sofa.  There is a reason I retired early from teaching !!  8 hours entertaining a lil one is EXHAUSTING .. even if it is fun.