Chef Dandy

Both of our children have a lot of anxiety about food supply. They love love love to go to Costco and fill the cart. They love to unload the groceries and put them onto the pantry shelves. They love to gaze at the over-stuffed fridge and freezer. They love to straighten and tidy the food shelves.

And they adore getting to help prepare food. Today Dandy bravely plunged his hand into the whole chicken and pulled out all the icky stuff, rinsed the whole thing out, tucked seasonings under the skin, and held the legs while I tied the string. He popped it into the pan and I put the pan into the oven. He was so proud of himself at dinner tonight that he had made the chicken. Demystifying the process of how food gets to the table seems to help him a lot, as he is a boy who likes to know how things happen.

So know he knows how to make bread and roast chicken and make salad. He's learning practical skills that ease his emotional/psychological anxieties. And I don't have to stick my hand in the chicken anymore.