Knife Skills

One of the things I love about our local school system is the cooking and gardening program.  As an effort to fight obesity and educate students about healthy food, the PTA funds weekly classes in which kids plant seeds in school gardens, collect eggs, pick tomatoes, and prepare healthy meals.

The flip side of this wonderful program is that my son came home from Kindergarten and announced he had learned how to use knives (real knives, not butter knives.)

He wanted to prepare the special dish he had learned for dinner tonight.  He was so proud to show me his new knife skills that I couldn't say no.  I mean, I don't want to contradict his teachers and I certainly need to be supportive of school, right?

So, we went to the market and bought pears, persimmons, figs, and pumpkin seeds.  I put off the preparation as long as possible but dinner inevitably arrived so, finally, I reluctantly handed a freshly sharpened paring knife to my five-year-old son.

This must be how it feels to get in the passenger seat with your teenager at the wheel.

Well, I am pleased to say we enjoyed a lovely Autumn fruit dish tonight and my kid still has all ten fingers.

I can't wait to see what he learns next week.  Sky diving, perhaps...