How To Entertain Your Child While You're Busy In The Kitchen

Today was baking day, and there was much to do. You mommies know that this activity doesn't jive with kiddos underfoot, so it's helpful to have an activity for said kiddos. So, I took a cue from our beloved "Little House On The Prairie" books and had Ruth stud an apple with cloves. She was interested because of the books and it was just hard enough to keep her busy, but not so hard as to cause her to become frustrated--or worse yet, for me to have to get involved. And she could do it in stages, if she got tired of it. She felt so big working on this project, and she was content being in close enough proximity to chatter away to me while I actually got some stuff done. It was fabulous! And as a bonus, when she was all done, we threw it, along with a few other ingredients, into the kettle and had some really wonderful cider this evening.