Toddler Scramble

Isn't it funny how quickly things happen around toddlers? One second you're introducing a fun new activity, and the next second your house is a complete mess. Today Katie took my breath away with her powers of destruction. Not in the scope of the disaster, which was pretty small, but how quickly it happened.

It started with me offering Katie some scrambled eggs for "second breakfast." Ever since I stopped giving Katie a bottle when she wakes up, I've been at a loss about when breakfast time should be. She used to drink her bottle, then have breakfast around 8:30. Now that the bottle is gone, I've been feeding her around 7:30, and then feeding her again before we go out around 9:30. Maybe if I skip the second breakfast, she'll be hungry enough to eat the 10:00 snack at school. We'll see.

Anyway, Katie said an enthusiastic "Yesh!" to scrambled eggs, and immediately followed up with "Help!" (Meaning, Katie help make eggs!) So I let her pull a chair over to the kitchen island while I cracked the eggs into the biggest bowl I could find. I handed her a whisk and let her go to town. It was a real challenge to put the frying pan on the stove and get the milk out of the fridge while keeping my eyes on her at all times. Last time we tried to scramble eggs, she wanted to stick her fingers in for a taste. I never used to be afraid of salmonella - I've practically eaten my weight in raw cookie dough over the years - but since Katie was born I've become paranoid. Luckily, this time she was having too much fun with the whisk to be curious about how raw eggs taste.

I got out the pepper grinder and let her do that for a bit. It's too difficult for her tiny hands, so I had to help her out a little. She sure had fun watching the pepper come out! Then it was time for salt, and that's when things went a little haywire. After years of watching Food Network, I keep coarse kosher salt in a little ramekin, and I use my fingers to add a pinch to my cooking. Katie has watched me do this a million times. I approached the bowl with my ramekin, and quick as lightening, Katie grabbed a whole fistful of salt and threw it partly into the bowl and partly all over the countertop. Then, after I wrestled the bowl away from her, she furiously swiped the countertop from side to side with both hands, scattering salt EVERYWHERE. I stood there, stunned, having gone from "fun with cooking" to "Sodom and Gomorrah" in less than 1.2 microseconds. (Ok, that's a stretch, but you know, salt...)

It could have been much worse - coarse salt vacuums up easily - but WOW. We enjoyed our salty eggs anyway, though, and I hope Katie got some good learning out of it! I sure did - next time, a normal salt shaker! LOL.