My kids are always in the kitchen with me - I bring them to the bakery and let them decorate cakes, and they also try to help me and my wife, Lisa, cook dinner at night.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
I have a little kitchen office at home, where I do all my kids' stuff.
I love my kitchen. On the weekends, we have friends over, the kids are buzzing around, and we cook and talk.
With the kids around, this is a different world to me. I spend a lot of time with them till they go to their playschool. I wake up early, have breakfast with them. I come back from work and am with them again till they go to bed by 10 P.M. Touch wood, this is what I wanted always.
Bringing your kids into the kitchen doesn't require you to be a top chef; only time and maybe a willingness to get a little messy.
My husband and I have a deal, which has worked out well: He cooks one Sunday, I cook the next. The kids set the table, and we eat in the dining room together, just as I used to do as a kid.
Kids are a huge sacrifice; they change everything - but I'm ready to work for things of greater importance than going out to meet someone for dinner at 10 o'clock at night.
I love kids, but I have to be honest: I am that person at a dinner party who's a little relieved when the kids go to bed.
I absolutely adore baking with my nieces and nephews. It's super fun, and I love baking by myself, so what I like to do is have a cabinet for my baking essentials.
All my grandchildren bake. On a Saturday, Annabel's boys, Louis and Toby, always bake. Louis makes a chocolate cake, Toby makes banana or lemon drizzle. They're 12 and 10, and they can do it totally on their own. My son's twin girls, Abby and Grace, are 14; they make birthday cakes and like to do it on their own with Mum out of the way.
For my kids, I cook everything. We have dinner every night, pretty much, just the four of us: my husband and me and our two kids.