A lesson learned...

The kids love to go out in the snow.  They can stay out there for hours and don't even feel the cold (until they come and and start to thaw...)

Anyway, we got our 4 wheeler last Spring and have loved it.  Nate wakes up from his nap and wants his daily "4ler" ride.  I took him each day until Jason was born and even then, I'd still take him on the good days.  Then it just got too cold and I couldn't take Jason out with us anymore, so it fell on Dad to take him.  He can't go every day, but he sure asks for it every day.

So, now to the point of the story.  Mike always tells me that I should go out there and pull the kids on the sled.  He says I'll have fun.  I always have Jason as an excuse to stay inside, or dinner, or a mess to clean up.  So, one day, as Allie begged, Mike told me to go out and he would get dinner going.  I had started cutting the potatoes and carrots for a soup.  He said he'd keep Nate inside so we could be out there longer.  The part of me that wanted to control the way the veggies were cut up and just how precise things were in the measurements wanted to tell him no and send him out the door.  The part in me that wanted to laugh and see him struggle to cut veggies and take care of Nate was the part that won.  I went outside and loved every minute of hearing Allie and Lily, Jake and Carson squeal and scream as I whipped them around corners and took them through the powder.  It was so fun.

I thought I would come inside to a frazzled Mike with cut up potatoes strewn all over the counter and floor (which is how things would have rolled if I was in there with Nate).  

Instead, I came in to find everything all cut up and in the soup pot.  The potatoes weren't the controlled even cubes that I usually do, but they weren't bad either.

I asked Mike how he had managed to do that with Nate in there with him.  He said it was no big deal.  I found that hard to believe.  When I get out the sharp knife, Nate is up on the table with me trying as hard as he can to wedge his little fingers in between the knife and the cutting board.  He loves to pick up the "tatos" after they are sliced and shove them in his mouth.  He also likes to help by putting them in and out of the soup pot.  I usually end up yanking him off the table 7 or 8 times in a 3 minute span as he runs around to climb up the chairs again so he can get right in the way again.

This is getting long, so I'll just tell you the lesson that I learned from Mike.  He had given Nate a butter knife and let him "cut" with him.  He was able to get the job done and Nate wasn't left crying.  

I was cutting up "tatos" again the other day, so I thought I'd give the "Mike method" a try.  It worked!  Nate had a great time and I wasn't wrestling a wiggly boy away from the sharp knife.

He would stab the potato and then make flying noises as he whooshed it though the air.

His mouth is full of raw potatoes, but I guess if that's what he likes, it will have to be fine with me.

It ended up being fun for me rather than an annoying battle.  All of you moms who cook with your kids are probably saying "why haven't you been doing that all along?"  Well, I never thought about letting him use a butter knife, and wouldn't dream of giving Nate a real knife...so that's why.
Anyway, it's our new thing.  It only works with chopping veggies.  Anything else is just too hard.
So thanks Mike for letting me have fun on the 4ler and teaching me how to make this particular boy happy and get something done at the same time.