Why Our Sons Should Cook

I’m not sure how hard I tried to teach my kids how to cook. The chaos of those last few teenage years all blurs now that they are in college and beyond (my oldest being 25).

I don’t think I’ve ever looked this put together and relaxed while cooking in my life.

I do remember at least telling my kids, including my son, who is 20, how important it is to cook.

“Why?” my son asks with a wide grin and a glint in his eye. “Isn’t that what a wife is for?”

He does this to torment, of course. Because he knows that he’s surrounded by two sisters and a mother who have spent years making certain he is a sensitive, kind man who respects women. (Plus, we would get physical if he truly gets out of line, Lol.)

It amuses me greatly to tell you that my son is more serious about cooking as an almost-junior in college than his sisters were at that age. He grocery shops every week and even has a grand plan–he makes enough food for four days at a time.

“Does that mean you eat the same meal four days in a row?” I asked. “But don’t you get sick of it?”

This is what my kids made: shrimp, turkey sausage, corn, potatoes, garlic, lemon, parsley–on the grill for 10 minutes and wa-la!

Apparently not. I think he eats a lot of chicken breasts and pasta. He still won’t eat red sauce or anything where the food touches another food  on the plate but hey–not my problem anymore!

This warms my heart, that this son of mine can shop and feed himself. He, who was a sickly child, who was indulged with chicken nuggets and fries because he simply wouldn’t eat anything else. (I know, I know, I should have forced him or something, but what can I say. Thank God he eats more than foods that are beige now that he’s grown, and is big and strong and no longer sickly.)

Recently while I was nearing a deadline, my oldest daughter and my son cooked a fabulous dinner that they sealed in a foil packet and put on the grill. My daughter even made a homemade berry cobbler to go with it! I only had to wait 25 years for this. It was totally worth the wait! I nearly cried, to have someone–your children no less!–make you a fabulous dinner when you’re all stressed out. Nothing could’ve been sweeter.

My kids have always seen my husband in the kitchen too. He cooks pancakes every Sunday and makes amazing omelets. He makes pies and bread when he has time. I think this has had a great impact. Plus, my husband actually enjoys cooking, whereas I…well, let’s just say that if I didn’t have to eat, I wouldn’t be in the kitchen. At all.

I tell my son he’s going to be part of a busy household one day and it’s important to share all the tasks as you can. That it takes all hands on deck to raise a family. And that marriage is a partnership.

Hopefully some of that has sunk in. And in the meantime, he’s off to a great start.  Not only can he cook for himself, he can cook enough at one time to feed a family of four 🙂