Good Mom Idea # 1
Anyway, once in a very long while (during the course of being a Mom) I come up with what I call a "Good Mom Idea". You know those - one of those things that you come up with and afterwards think, "Now, THAT was good idea! I'm a GOOD MOM for coming up with that one!" I don't have them often (they usual require a good night sleep and some originality, which I am often lacking in this chaotic life of mine). But I LOVE when they surface. Today I was cleaning up the girls toys and I came across a "Good Mom Idea" I had a couple of years ago. I immediately thought I should share it with you, my faithful blog reader, that perhaps you might enjoy it, implement it (if you have young children in your home), or maybe pass it on for another Mom to try.
This "Good Mom Idea" originated when Katie was about 4 years old, during a cold harsh winter, when playing outside was just too dangerous due to the cold and staying inside had become a nightmare with a 4 year old & 1 year old. Katie, Ellie and I were playing kitchen with all of their plastic toy foods when Katie brought what looked like a delicious plate of food to me. I took one look at it and thought, "Wow! That looks soooo yummmy!!! I could EAT that!!" I immediately grabbed my camera (the inspiration just took over), and I took this photo . . . .
Katie absolutely LOVED that I was taking pictures of the food, so little by little she kept bringing me plates of food. And I kept clicking away. . . .
(Ok, yes, I admit it . . . I did start to "take over" a little and helped with the layout and placement of the food on the plate. I was immediately inspired and the need to design the food layout on the plate was becoming a quest for me. I mean, once you motivate an artist on a project, it's very hard to get them to stop. Maybe in my next life I'll be a food artist for magazines, or something.) Anyway, after developing my "look" and shooting 25 pictures, I bundled up the girls and off to Walgreens we went to develop the photos. We quickly came home and created this . . . .
I mean, EVERY good restaurant needs a MENU, doesn't it? Well, the cover was easy. The inside . . . . BRILLIANT (if I do say so myself) . . . .
And it was done. 10 pages total of incredible culinary delight made at "Katie and Ella's Children Restaurant" (yes, my originality was fading after a few hours and I lost all creative thinking when coming up with the name of the restaurant. But, that's ok. The girls didn't notice!) We even have 2 pages of desserts (cake, cookies, strawberries) and one page of drinks (milk, coffee, tea.) Really . . . it is so much fun to see.
I have to tell you - this menu has been one of my very favorite "Good Mom Idea's" to date. It not only is great fun to play with - it is a FANTASTIC learning lesson. It has helped the girls learn about nutrition (each meal contains veggies and/or fruits), colors (they would use the same color plates as shown in the menu), numbers (they would take your order by number, as written on the menu and write down the number on their pad of paper), customer service (we play restaurant and they are learning how to ask for things politely and say "please" and "thank you"), and I truly believed has started them with a great appreciation for cooking.
We've had the Menu for a couple years now, and we STILL play with it. I've thought about adding a price to each meal now, so that as Katie is learning about money, we could actually have play money and PAY for our meals and have Kate give us change for the food. Maybe I'll do that. But even if I don't, this certainly was one day when I felt like a GOOD MOM and came up with a pretty GREAT idea.
Oh, Leanne...I did a similar thing with Jonathan when he was younger. Every Sunday morning for a while, we played "Teaser's Restaurant" had a menu, Grandpa was always the customer, Grandma was always the cook, and Jonathan was the waiter. Our creations were with real food and we took pictures of the breakfast creations we made for the customer. We had a blast!!! I'll try to post some pics on my blog in the next couple of days. You are totally right, though. Soooo many learning lessons in something so simple. And you've taught your daughters that appreciation can be seen/shown in all kinds of ways.
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