mess-making

The bambini and I made an angel food cake for my beloved's birthday today (with Cooks Illustrated's "foolproof chocolate frosting", of which there is some leftover -- happy day!).   It was a first for me; I haven't had a lot of angel food cake in my lifetime, so I really wasn't too sure what I was going for anyway.  Maybe it was better that way.  I'm happy to report, though, that it seemed to be just what my beloved was hoping for.

We do a lot of baking together, and I've come to a new level of acceptance when it comes to spatula shenanigans.  The main point is, after all, to craft something healthy (or at least festive, in today's case) and delicious *together*.  The lads love to scoop and pour ingredients, pretending that they're dirt or cement mix or some such thing.  The elder lad takes great pride in operating the stand mixer (with an adult standing right there, of course).  The younger lad loves to help, so he's happiest given any task -- especially one involving sifting or pouring.   As with everything else, I try to employ positive language as my default, so I say such things as "keep all the ingredients in the bowl", which at our house seems to be better received when phrased as "keep all the cement in the drum" (as in, the drum of the cement mixer truck). 

As my beloved has said before, it isn't a party until the mixer gets dirty.  Still I try to keep as close a lid on kitchen messes as I can, because I don't want sugar tracked throughout the house and know full well how quickly that can happen if one of the bambini gets loose after a spill.  I'm one of those to clean up as I go along, because really I'm lazy and hate cleaning up a big mess afterward.  I find it so discouraging.

Messes are a part of life with young children.  We try to minimize them or clean them up right away, but they aren't (usually) causes for distress.  Making the right memories with the bambini of us collaborating on something we all can delight in together like a birthday cake or something that will be both yummy and nutritious are more important than stressing out about a mess.  Learning to clean the mess up is a valuable and much-needed skill anyway.  It comes with the territory.  At least, that's what I try to tell myself...

Here's hoping my beloved has had a delightful birthday today, and that he knows how much he is loved and cherished.  We are all grateful for him and his loving, humble service to our family.