Isaac cooks

Four years ago we bought a small used toy kitchen from a friend of ours leaving China.  Julianna was 18 months old and Lydia was a large bump in the belly.  We stowed it away for six months and gave it to Julianna for her second birthday that December. 

And I never DREAMED that it would become the toy staple that it is.  I keep the bulk of our toys in a cabinet and we only pull out some at a time (because it cuts down on clutter and I hope it encourages more imaginative play).  But the little kitchen is one thing that I tend to leave out - if I don't, someone is sure to come asking for it.  I'll hear them deeply involved in some play-scenario, working on plot and details and one of them will come running out of the bedroom, "Mom, quick, we need the kitchen toys." 

This morning the girls were at school and Isaac worked so hard with this little kitchen.  He made me all kinds of tasty treats while I was a customer at his restaurant (be forewarned: his menu features an abundance of peanut butter). 

I do lots of laundry on Fridays (especially if the weather is nice) so in between switching loads, hanging stuff out in the courtyard (yay for summer sunshine!) and folding the dry clothing I was his #1 customer. 

Note that he makes all his bread from scratch :)

And uses only the "boy oven mitt" to get things from the oven.  He's had quite enough of pink and will quickly clarify that he does not intend to use the pink oven mitt for one single second.  He will serve me food on pink plates with pink utensils, but when the two of us sat down for a cup of coffee early this morning his first comment (as he removed the cups from the oven - interesting coffee brewing technique, huh?) was "the blue cup is mine and the pink cup is for you Mom". 

I know that one day (hopefully no time soon, but surely somewhere in our future) I will realize that no one plays with this sweet little kitchen anymore.  Hopefully by that time, my girls will be doing some real kitchen work themselves (and enjoying it just as much as they enjoy their play)!  And Isaac?  Well, I realize there is a chance he'll keep his passion for cooking.  But I'm not sure. 

After all, his interest in the kitchen eventually waned and he turned, once again, to his passion.  CARS! 

I really really like watching my kids play (and playing with them!)  They do the coolest things.  They come up with the neatest ideas.  And they have so much FUN :) 

It is so good for my heart to sit down on the floor and listen to this little boy talk about "the concrete mixer goes in the parking lot and this is where the bao an stays" [a 'bao an' is a security guard and almost all of Isaac's parking lots have a spot for the bao an - taking his cues from his environment and mixing two languages, because every parking lot here has its own security guard, but the only word he's ever heard used for that role is 'bao an']. 

I hope I never forget these days.....  (which is one of the reasons I am so faithful to write them down!)