Meaningful work

The other night during the witching hour, things were really falling apart.  People were bored and there was lots of crying, fighting and misdirected activity.  In a moment of desperation, I recruited some kitchen helpers to use a device that turned out to be new and exciting to them: the cherry pitter!  Thankfully, all the boys wanted in on this job!  There was instant co-operation and taking turns!  It turns out this is a miracle device.

 

I also recently discovered that Jake is old enough to cut soft foods with a knife.  Give a boy a small sharp knife, appropriate supervision and some safety rules… he feels like BIG STUFF!  They do this in Montessori classrooms regularly, so I should have thought of this sooner.  He made a salad almost all on his own.