Once, long ago, I questioned an older mom about whether boys should learn “women’s work.” Thankfully, she did not scoff or chide me! Her answer was simple and true…
Shouldn’t a man know how to cook for himself and sew for himself and clean for himself? What if the Lord does not bring him a wife for many years…or forever? Will mother or sisters always be there to do these things for him? Of course not.
Since then, I have never once questioned myself as I give my son full rein in the kitchen.
Today, I want to share with you a moment that truly blessed my mother’s heart…
A short time ago, my friend Sarah and her children came to visit. Sarah’s husband was in the city on business and was planning to join us that evening for supper at our home. Prior to her family arriving, my son decided he wanted to cook the evening meal for us!
My initial thought was how he might mess it up with all those extra people there. But, I decided this would be a forgiving crowd should that happen and hey, we live in the city…pizza is around the corner! So, with my blessing, he began diligently planning the meal.
He decided to ask Sarah’s son to pitch in and he eagerly agreed.
They were dicing and chopping fools!
Blake had planned a taco lasagna (doubled since he would be feeding 10 people!) and sweet cornbread:
TACO LASAGNA
1# ground beef
1/2 c. chopped green pepper
1/2 c. chopped onion
2/3 c. water
1 env taco seasoning
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can Mexican diced tomatoes, undrained
6 8″ flour tortillas
1 can refried beans
3 c. shredded Mexican cheese blendIn a large skillet, cook the beef, green peppers, and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Add water and taco seasoning; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered for 2 minutes. Stir in the black beans and tomatoes. Simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Place 2 tortillas in a greased 9×13″ baking dish. Spread with half of the refried beans and beef mixture; sprinkle with 1 cup cheese. Repeat layers. Top with remaining tortillas and cheese. Cover and bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes or until heated through and cheese is melted.
SWEET CORN BREAD
1 box jiffy corn bread
1 box jiffy yellow cake mixPrepare each as directed and then combine. Pour into a 9″ square baking dish. Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes.
The girls (my 8 year old daughter and Sarah’s 9 year old daughter) wanted to pitch in, so they made the cornbread while the boys worked hard on the taco lasagna.
The entire time they cooked, Sarah and I scrapbooked and chit-chatted. It was such a blessing to have that time with her and not have to worry about cooking!
And then the moment of truth arrived…
They did it! It was a lovely and yummy meal cooked entirely by children ages 12 and under!
So, yes, boys should learn to cook and children can cook very tasty meals all by themselves…you just have to let them!
Here’s a quick pic of another blessing that day…
The two cornbread girls caring for their littlest siblings! So sweet!
Verna says
How nice that you are teaching the boys to do what they need to do.
Not like my daughter experience when she was in college and went to the laundry to do her laundry. And there stood a fellow class mate, and he knew nothing about laundry. Thanks to my daughter he learned how to do his laundry while living in the dorm.
I think all son’s should learn cooking, cleaning and laundry duties. They can also use their learnings when they get married, or when they move out and live on their own.
Cheers to all you mothers who are teaching your sons those things.
And to our daughters who have learned how to change flat tires, and read road maps, etc.
Michaela Dunn Leeper says
What a wonderful post! I have 3 boys & I love having them in the kitchen with me. They also help in the garden & are learning basic sewing skills. I’m of the thought as well, that they may not take a wife soon after they “fly the coop.”
The FitzGerald Family says
Men should know how to cook so that when their wives are on bed rest or ill, they can still manage to care for the children. How about when they’re at a father-daughter or father-son campout? There are many times when a man needs to know his way around the stove.
Great job, guys on making a terrific dinner and for blessing your mamas!
Sarah says
What cute kids!! Thanks for the reminder that children CAN be very helpful in the kitchen!
Fruitful Harvest says
Sweet!
All my kiddos love to cook! In the summer they each take a week to meal plan with me and go shopping…alone with me for special time. They plan 3 meals and 2 snacks for 7 days. They only have to cook lunch the lunches and dinner if they want to. (they are usually out playing with friends)
Sounds like the kiddos had a fun time with their friends!
There are many perks to a large family! The older the kiddos gets the more areas they are able to help!
Way to go kids!
Blessings,
Georgiann
Deedee says
So true! My Mom taught my four brothers to cook since her brother didn’t get married for the first time till six months after I did!!! He was a bachelor for many years and would have starved if he didn’t know how to cook. Actually he is quite a gourmet cook too. He decided that if he was going to learn how to do it, he would learn how to do it really well! LOL!
My brothers all cook well too. One is a trained chef now. Three are married now, two of them to girls who never learned how to cook, so they have been able to help their wives learn how to cook healthy meals. The girls came from homes where they weren’t taught how to do these things – so my brother’s training has helped them to be blessings to their wives too!
Jen Anglen says
my hubbies mom told him she wanted him to learn to cook/sew/clean because the chances that he married a woman who couldn’t were pretty high! Haha! She was right… I could clean, but cooking and sewing were not my strong points when we first married. Guess who taught me to cook like a pro!? Yeah… now I can do it with the best of them, but it took a wise mother-in-law who taught her son the duties I should have already known! I’m thankful she did! 🙂
Rosemary says
Hi, I’ve just started reading through your blog this afternoon, and have really been enjoying it. You’ve already given me some really exciting ideas to put into practice with my little family, I love your ideas on teaching children how to run a home by helping from a very early age (and convicting me for not having started on my 11 month old yet). I’m really pleased that you are teaching your boys to cook – my mother in law never did and as a result my hubby is still very much a beginner 5 years in to our marriage. I did notice though, that on another post you talked about teaching your daughters to sew – why not the boys too with that?