The kitchen helper

Most toddlers get a kick out of mixing and stirring, but I hope that Levi’s interest in cooking is not just a developmental phase and that he inherited his father’s culinary know-how. See, there’s not much I can teach Levi in the kitchen besides how to microwave macaroni and cheese, make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and order a pizza for dinner.

However, it’s hard for either of us to prepare anything while balancing Levi on one hip. And he insists on being held so that he can watch all of the pouring and scooping and button pressing.

Levi and I have our morning routine nailed — acting as my left arm, he opens and closes the microwave for me — but cooking anything other than oatmeal with him in my arms is a challenge. (Ok, cooking anything for me is a challenge.) Levi wants to be more involved, but there’s just no safe way for him to be right now.

Levi loves to help in the kitchen, and I love that he loves to help.

I’d like to get Levi a safety stool so he can assist us the kitchen. A popular option is the GuideCraft Kitchen Helper, but it’s expensive and ugly. Decorative cut outs of stars, circles and squares and a mini chalkboard panel are just not my style. However, I do like that it folds up when not in use since our kitchen is not even large enough for a table.

I prefer the simpler look of the Little Partners Learning Tower (and it comes in white!) but it’s even more expensive. Two-hundred dollars for a kitchen stool? Really?

So I suggested to JB that he buy a couple of wooden boards and build Levi a copycat kitchen helper. I mean, how hard could it be? It turns out that the instructions for a DIY helping tower are very complicated — at least to my untrained eye. (Woodworking is not my forte, although once I nailed together a very small wooden shelf at sleep-away camp when I was 10 or 11.)

I suppose starting with a pre-made step stool as a base, like this Bekvam learning tower, would make the job a little bit easier… or wouldn’t it?

I would love to know how your little ones — children who are too small to simply stand on a chair — help in the kitchen. Do you have a kitchen helper or learning tower? Did you DIY some sort of safety stool? Or do you just cook all of your meals on the floor?