the kid cooks, and then plays.

I've been allowing our little princess to help me in the kitchen for a long time, and it's finally paying  off.  Once a week she makes pancakes with my assistance.  Nowadays she doesn't make as big a mess, and goes as far as measuring some of the ingredients (pouring the milk into the measuring cup herself), cracking the egg, using my hand egg beater to mix the liquid ingredients, adding the liquids to the dry ingredients she has already mixed thoroughly, and stirring those together.  She scrapes the bowl as she stirs, like any good cook would.  She can name all the ingredients as I set them out for her:  flour, sugar, baking powder (sometimes she forgets and says baking soda), and oil.

She will soon be four years old, but it will be awhile before I let her do the actual cooking.  

I've had people online tell me I have remarkable patience, allowing her to do all this.  Well folks, I have a confession to make:  I'm a slob.  I barely keep house at all.  So here's the way I look at it:  How much is a little more mess going to hurt?

  
And does she ever LOVE eating pancakes!

On another note.  When little Princess arrived this morning, her parent was carrying a tote bag.  Once the bag was on the floor, I saw it was FULL of little toy things, similar in size to Little People figures.  My first thought was, "Oh no, something else to be strung around all over the house."  

As I was looking at it from a distance, she proudly announced, "Dalmatians!"

Trying to feign interest, I got up and went closer as she started removing them from the bag.  That's when my interest became real, because these were some of the cutest little things I've ever seen, and they are made plenty tough, so they'll probably last forever.  I don't know that there are 110 Dalmatians, but there are dozens of them, for sure.

Look at the detail!  Every single dog is different from the others.  Their legs are movable, so you can stand them up, sit them up, or lay them down.  I got down in the floor to play with them, although since they are new, the girl isn't sharing too well.  

Then Cliff got up.  He wasn't ready to get in the floor yet, so I brought in a cookie sheet the dogs could play in and do their tricks (yes, some of them do tricks.  

Thank you, Iowa grandma, for getting her these toys.  She loves them, and so do we.  Of course, they aren't staying here, but perhaps she will bring them another day and let me play with them.