Everyday Wonder is a new series that will wind through A Life of Wonder, a glimpse of the small moments of wonder I find in everyday life.
It was my second attempt at muffins for the week, the first batch was barely edible, but this time I would follow the recipe. I am not someone born with the natural ability to feel how much of each ingredient needs to be used, when it comes to baking nine times out of ten it’s an absolute disaster. But despite all that here I was going for round two, ingredients spread over the kitchen table and using the rice cooker dish as my mixing bowl. The children swarmed as I was hunched over concentrating incredibly hard to get it right. Usually, this is something I would only attempt if I was alone because I cannot deal with distractions when doing a task that requires such precision, so it took a while for me to register that Sonny had started pouring ingredients into his own bowl. As soon as I realised I felt the words about to roll off my tongue ‘Stop! You’re making a mess’ there was food going everywhere, not to mention the waste of oats. But then I caught the look of concentration on his face which mirrored my own, mingled with a look of pride as he chaotically mixed and the words died in my mouth as a memory surfaced.
My younger brother and I, possibly around similar ages to Sonny and Sylver, in the kitchen making cakes. I remember having the basic ingredients that our mum must have got out for us, flour, eggs, sugar, milk, but doing all the pouring and measuring the ingredients on our own.
Mixing our concoctions with pleasure, my brother decided to make his into a carrot cake, so obviously he put whole carrots in the batter. My mother, who I am sure was close by, didn’t stop him, didn’t say “That is not how you make a cake, you need more of this and less of that”. We we allowed to do it on our own. We put those terribly made cakes in the microwave to cook and waited with excitement while they spun around, somehow rising. When we heard that beep we raced to open the door with enthusiasm.
The cakes, like my first batch of muffins this week, were barely edible. My brother discovered that putting whole carrots in did not make the kind of carrot cake he intended, but none of that took away from the fact that we had made our very own cakes. The way I can still remember sitting on the kitchen counter watching our cakes slowly rise with such clarity, surely shows just how important that moment was to me.
So, as I watched my own son eagerly pouring in cinnamon, sugar and salt into his own mixing bowl, I let go and let him go for it. When I stepped back and really took the scene in, I saw Sonny’s face focused intently on his creation, allowing Sylver at times to contribute with some water or milk. At that moment he wasn’t just adding and mixing ingredients at random, he was an alchemist.
A little bit of this and a little bit of that, tasting now and again then exclaiming with joy that it was indeed delicious, that he has made gold. Yes, there was mess everywhere and yes a bit of food wastage, but to watch the sense of pride while he stirred and created was well worth it.
In the end, we were able to turn his concoction into a questionable granola which the boys now excitably eat every morning with their yoghurt. But the real magic was not in the finished product. It lay in the sense that he, like me all those years ago, felt trusted to do something grown up on his own. Was allowed to experiment and create freely, without the restrictions of doing something ‘the right way’.
I’ve noticed a certain kind of elation in my kids that comes with using real things to create with. I’m a huge fan of mud pies and sand cakes, but to see the pleasure and pride in Sonny as he mixed together something that was more tangible was worth the extra cleanup.
I would love to hear about the small moments of Everyday Wonder you’ve had recently.
Ah this was so lovely and a good reminder for me. I always love the idea of baking with my two but often end up in a bit of a flap when it all gets chaotic (I blame the many Virgo aspects of me!). If I am actually trying to make something, I find that having the ingredients measured out so they can they chuck them all in is the most easeful way. But maybe it’s not meant to be about easeful! Of course, they adore licking the bowl! I love the story of you and your brother finding out so much for your experiences in the kitchen! I have some lovely memories of making Christmas cake with my mum and apple tart with my grandma xx
The darling little alchemists !!! And the mama that lets them be ... it 🧡🫶🏼
Love your story telling darling darling xx