10 November 2008

Hee man homemaking


I made some pumpkin bread with my son on Friday. My daughter helped too by doing some of the mixing, but I had my son do most of the work. Showed him (again) how to read a recipe, use the oven, grease the pan, etc.

He loved it. He loves to help in the kitchen. And the bread turned out great...it has already been devoured.

I was raised to help out around the house. My brother and I each had chores to do, but they were more your stereotypical things, like he did garbage and the lawn mowing, and I did everything else, be it laundry, cooking, cleaning, or dishes. In my husband's family, where my MIL thinks that it "isn't fair to have children and turn them in to indentured servants," she didn't teach her kids to cook, clean, do laundry, plan a meal, balance a check book, etc. No wonder, by comparison, they think I'm Martha Stewart.

When my husband and I got married, we lived in an apartment in Seattle. It had a washer and dryer stashed away conveniently behind two sets of bi-fold doors. In a splash of dramatic flare, I walked hubby over to the doors, threw them open and introduced him to, "Mr. Washer and Mr. Dryer." Despite washing a navy blue silk dress of mine and turning it into doll clothes, things have gone well in that department. Hubby's an Eagle Scout, he does well with these things.

I don't want my son to be housework challenged. I sure don't want to be doing his laundry when he's 30 because he has no clue about such practical things.

My daughter will learn to take out garbage and how to cut the grass. She will also learn how to change a tire, check oil and fend for herself in case she finds only frogs instead of Prince Charming.

5 comments:

Vincenzo said...

"I made some pumpkin bread with my son on Friday."

Yum. I'm going to have to make some soon. Speaking of Martha, the last pumpkin bread recipe I made was hers, though I modified it a bit.

swissmiss said...

I'm going to try to make some apple crisp today. Kind of busy though, so we'll have to see how it goes. The kids still have plenty of Halloween candy, but kept asking for a slice of the pumpkin bread instead of candy, so that was a good thing...except it's all gone :P

Kit said...

Sounds yummy! As the culmination of a few years of "ride alongs" in the kitchen, I am teaching each girl to make a complete dinner for the whole family, from selecting items at the store, to chopping stuff up, to setting a proper table.

I am 100% with you on the chores, too. Although with my girls, it's a constant reminding and occasional glowering process...

Adrienne said...

Good for you! You're raising a boy to be a real man and a good husband some day.

Anonymous said...

Please post the recipe--looks yummy!