In many households, it is the Mommy that does the baking however in our home it is Daddy! Daddy makes the best birthday cakes, crumpets and he makes the BEST Sunday morning pancakes in the world! I think it comes down to the fact that I am absolutely pedantic with regards to ingredients, measurements and mess. Whereas my husband, Ryan is so cool, calm and collected in the kitchen… even when baking with one, and sometimes two, little assistants!
It has become our weekend tradition that on a Sunday morning Ryan and my daughter, Bailey (5 and a half years old) make either pancakes or French toast for breakfast… Bailey gets to choose and either are a complete win!
I think in Bailey’s little mind, it is her way on ensuring an hour of individual daddy-daughter time with her dad, as he works long hours during the week. It is time where she sits on the kitchen counter and watches his every move! They chat about their week that has passed, their highs and lows, they giggle, they argue and they spend that time communicating. I love to sit in the dining room – a stone throw away – and hear the two of them bonding… an inseparable pair.
The pair carefully measuring out their ingredients
This particular Sunday, she has chosen pancakes… I hear them chatting about the order of what ingredient comes next in the recipe, which really works on Bailey’s memory skills and motor planning and believe me, she keeps Ryan in order! I hear them giggle as Bailey cracks the eggs (guaranteeing shells in the mixture that they have to fish out) which is a lovely task incorporating fine motor skills as well as bilateral integration. The guarantee of the flour going everywhere as they sift it, the sniffs of the vanilla essence bottle as Bailey loves the smell of it, but because of past experience, she knows the taste, the caution of Ryan telling her the pan is hot, the delicious aroma of pancakes filling the air, using another one of her essential senses. The giggle again of hearing Bailey’s rumbly tummy and then the sentence that always get asked by Ryan ‘Who is ready for the first pancake?’
Bailey is usually up first, then comes the toppings… she loves to get them out all on her own after she has set the table for all of us. She has an order for her toppings and if she puts them on incorrectly, then apparently her pancake doesn’t taste the same… Nutella, vanilla yoghurt and topped with sliced strawberries. She rolls it up on her own and the rest is history.
The sheer concentration on Bailey and Benn’s faces is priceless!
It is while we are eating that Ryan gets stranded on his own in the kitchen and Bailey and I get to chat over eating our pancakes. Benn (17 months old) even gets his own pancake and believe me, there is no sharing with Benn! He will finish his own one all by himself! While we are sitting at the dining room table, Bailey learns to take turns as we all get our pancakes fresh from the pan.
The finished product!
It is after a morning of chatting, baking, giggling, moaning, communicating and just plain old, family time… that Ryan and I will share a mutual smile and instantly we know that we are definitely on the right path with regards to good parenting and ensuring a happy, well-balanced family.
Pancakes Recipe:
4 eggs
2 cups flour
1 cup water
2 cups milk
2 Tbs melted margarine / oil
½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
5mls vanilla essence
Place the eggs in the mixer and blend them slightly. Add the milk, water, flour, baking powder, salt and vanilla essence and blend them altogether. Lastly add the melted margarine or oil and blend it once more. Your pancake batter is now ready…
Cook the pancakes in a greased pancake pan, don’t forget to flip them… and enjoy!!
Contributed by Shelby Parnell of Clamber Club Babies – Randpark Ridge
Tel: 072 148 4391
Email: randparkridgebabies@clamberclub.com
Website: www.clamberclub.com