My little big helper

After the semester break Eliot had a bit of a hard time getting back into the swing of things at school.  On his first day back he was quite tearful.  His teacher explained all of the fun things they'd be doing that day.  In an attempt to make it all sound that much more appealing, she told him that I was just going home to do some cooking and cleaning.  What she didn't realize was that cooking and cleaning was exactly what Eliot wanted to be doing.

He took it upon himself to wipe down the oven.  The other day he also disappeared into his room and I later realized that he was in there washing the walls.

It's a bit tricky to get the hang of a carrot peeler.

When we make pancakes he likes to drizzle the batter into the pan to make different shapes.  I save some batter at the end for him to make a "really big one."

One morning he used some cooked oatmeal to make "cookies".  We put them in the oven on a low heat.  They dried up into unexpectedly edible little wafers.

His kitchen skills are growing steadily.  It can sometimes get a little dicey, and tears have been shed when I've had to exert my authority, but for the most part he's a great little sous-chef.  One day we were going to sauté chicken and I warned him that the chicken can splatter when it lands in the hot oil.  Sure enough, as soon as the chicken was in the pan it started popping and spluttering.  He was off the stool and away from the stove in a flash.  I was focused on getting the chicken sorted and the next time I became aware of Eliot, I realized that he had returned to my side, this time with one of the large couch cushions.  He was holding it in front of himself like a shield and peeking over the top of it.  Resourceful as ever.