Time with My Girl: Banana Muffins

I wrote yesterday about how I plan to share ways that I spend time with my girls while still getting things done around the house.  Well, here's the  first answer to that promise.

H loves muffins.  Any flavor.  They could probably have broccoli in them and she would love them.  (I should totally try that!)  I think she likes the shape and the fact that I'll give her the whole thing and let her take bites out of them.  It might also be the fact that I like to put chocolate chips in my muffins, but that's beside the point.  She loves them.  

So a couple days ago, I decided to make muffins with her.  We have baked together before, but it's been in a very controlled environment.  I decided to make this a little more fun for her and try to let us both enjoy it.  The first thing I did was gather all the ingredients.  

This is important to do because you don't want to be walking all over the kitchen while your child is on the counter.  That could turn a fun project into a trip to the emergency room.  

H isn't quite old enough to stand on a chair and frankly, since my only counter space is a corner area, there isn't room for a chair there.  So I let her sit on the counter.  She's really good about sitting still.  

Then we started mixing.  I let her dump in the dry ingredients and mix them with a spoon.  I don't let her mess with the wet ingredients since there is raw egg in there and they're in the blender.  I would prefer she not lose a finger.  So she stirred, and stirred, and stirred.  

She ended up with flour on her toes and flour on the floor and into my mommy brain pops the thoughts, "This isn't going to work.  The mixture is going to be off.  There won't be enough flour.  I'm going to go crazy with all this mess!"  And then, I took a deep breath, laughed, took some pictures, and tried to show H how to keep it in the bowl.  

We had a blast and the muffins ended up delicious.  There was really no need to worry about any of it.  I think that was the important lesson I learned.  I grabbed the Dust Buster and cleaned up the floor and it wasn't a problem anymore.  I think that might be what I am learning through all of this.  Things that stress us out and we see as problems really aren't.  They are things that really can be funny and are there to be enjoyed. So what if there is flour all over the counter, floor, and both H and me. Who cares?  I don't.  And I'm having a great time with my daughter and she's learning and enjoying time with her Mommy.  

She's waking up now, so I've got to go, but I will share pictures later of her enjoying the muffins.  

I'd love to hear your stories of baking with your babies!  I'm sure there are some great ones out there!

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