Fostering Independence and Togetherness in the Kitchen

This post has been sponsored by Milk Life. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Do you have holiday traditions?

We haven’t implemented a lot of traditions, but I really love the ones we have. Holiday movies. A bag of pasta in everyone’s stocking. Milk and cookies for Santa.

Thanks to our jobs and homeschool, we’re able to sit down for family meals almost every day. This becomes even more important during the holidays when we want to eat all our favorite foods. In our case, we have a Christmas tradition of warm, spicy pasta with a cold glass of milk!

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What better time to slow down and enjoy a few moments together than during the holidays? This is a great time to really focus on teaching your kids those basic life skills that they’ll carry with them through life.

It can be hard for me to let go of control in the kitchen, but I know I want my kids to grow up with a good level of self-sufficiency. Meal time tasks are the perfect way to teach them cooperation, build strength and coordination in cooking and pouring, and give them a sense of accomplishment.

A few tasks that are kid appropriate, depending on age:

• Select the menu
• Grocery shop
• Pour milk
• Set out plates and silverware
• Bring food to the table
• Wash vegetables
• Measure and dump ingredients
• Butter bread
• Serve pasta or other food onto plates

As my kids get older, I’m really seeing what a task it’s going to be feeding four of them for the next fifteen years or so. Their help in the kitchen is becoming more and more important as the job grows, so teaching them now that it’s necessary to lend a hand and empowering them with the skills to do so will only make things easier as time goes on.

When I first cut meat out of my diet, it was difficult to imagine what we would eat at the holidays. I discovered this was the perfect time for indulgent dishes like this penne alla vecchia bettolla (penne with vodka sauce).

It’s spicier than most foods my kids enjoy, but still manages to be almost everyone’s favorite meal. If you’re cooking for people who don’t enjoy spice, you can keep a little dish of crushed red pepper flakes on the table so everyone can spice to their own taste. This spicy sauce is the perfect pair for a glass of milk, which helps neutralize the heat.

Milk is also high in calcium, vitamin D, and potassium, which are often missing from kids’ diets. Every 8 ounce glass includes 8 grams of protein, which is why my kids get a glass at almost every meal and not just the holidays.

How do you teach your kids independence and foster togetherness around the holidays? Let me know in the comments! Don’t forget to head here for more ways to #passthefeeling of milk this holiday!