i’ll admit that messes and chaos can make me feel a little crazy. i don’t know why that is, but i’m learning to embrace that little part of myself. i am also learning to let loose and bring asher into things i’m doing, even if it means a big mess. nothing some quality cleaner and a sponge can’t wipe up right? so, after we went to the apple orchard we had so many that we couldn’t have eaten them fast enough before going bad, so i was forced to make some baked goods. i know, so so sad. i decided to make an apple cake yesterday in our free time, and invited asher to be a part of it. even though i had to instruct him through every step and say lots of “no, no no, that doesn’t go in there” or “wait for mama!” it was really fun to see him “helping!” the beauty of it all? we passed like an hour of time, and nothing was broken and the mess was actually pretty minimal. here’s my advice if you have a busy little buddy at home who just wants to help:

1. explain as much as you can. i kept telling asher the same things over and over again and eventually he knew that the flour went into the bowl. so on and so forth.

2. take a breather. forget the mess that’s being made and live in the moment. notice their excitement and just enjoy making a memory with them!

3. let them stir, pour, roll, whatever. let them get their hands dirty!

4. encourage them! tell them what a great job they are doing and how much fun you are having with them. i noticed the more excited that i got, the more excited asher was.

5. eat the finished product and explain that they made it! they’ll love seeing what they made.

i know these are basic and i know that it’s nothing new, but for me, i had to really talk myself into letting the kitchen get messy. it’s small and there’s not a lot of counter space! but making that memory with asher and watching him get so excited was definitely worth the extra few minutes of cleaning!

 

look how excited he is! love this sweet boy of mine.