I had this crazy idea. I’m gonna let the girl make something for Thanksgiving. She’s 8, I’m sure she can manage but the slight OCD in me never really can get through it. I get all nervous about how she’s doing it and how long it takes to let her, but I’m gonna push all that aside this year. I’m also planning on inflicting this uncomfortableness onto other families too. In our den for cub scouts, the girls are bears this year, there is an elective called Bear Picnic Basket. One of the requirements is to have each kid, plan, prepare and execute a recipe. So it can be anything and I figured, with Thanksgiving coming up, that would be a great opportunity for them to make something, that they will like and eat, first of all, and feel like they are more a part of the holiday. I think kids can miss the point of Thanksgiving sometimes. Yeah, between home and school, they go through the motion of finding things they are thankful for, but, to me, it’s being able to create something for the people you love, enjoying the things they make for you and sitting down to enjoy each other’s company. Sounds more harmonious than it ends up being but that’s the idea. We usually have fun.
But when you think about it from a kid’s perspective, they run around and have to sit still at a dinner table, which (guilty) is not something we always do. My kids are not used to it. The TV is usually involved and I’m still struggling to get them to eat other things so we end up eating at different times. But Thanksgiving is the one day where they are expected to sit together and eat the same thing.
So I posed the idea to the girl and she automatically shouted “Brownies”. Ok, good choice. You can’t usually go wrong with brownies. I like brownies. Now, she needs to do the research and find a recipe, help buy the ingredients and actually make them. And then the true learning experience. Sit there and wait to see if people like what you made or being polite and pretending. You never know, she may have a gift for it. That way I can let her do all the cooking. I barely know what I’m doing anyway.
I’m going to let the other two girls know at the pack meeting. I’m excited to see what they come up with. There are a few other requirements after this, which we will get to at a different time. I just didn’t want to miss this opportunity for the main food holiday. The den meetings are very broken up this year. I can’t seem to get one whole adventure completed in one sitting but that’s ok. It keeps things interesting and makes it more exciting hopefully since I don’t even really know what’s next and I’m their leader.
Wonderful Randomness 