Mini chef

We have a rota on the fridge door of chores in the house. It requires the adults and two biggies to cook three times a fortnight and Léon and Anna to cook around once a fortnight. It'll need changing soon and Léon is beginning to complain he doesn't have enough cooking days!

We've always thought that starting them cooking at a young age makes them into competent independent young people and of course gets cooking into their routine before they reach the blasé, teenage 'I can't be bothered' stage. Marcel already cooks better than me and can happily feed a dozen people. Charlotte isn't quite as keen but can do Mexican things, pasta, rice, pie and potatoes, fish and chips etc so is self-sufficient. The wee ones are starting simple. Anna peels and chops veg and oven bakes them with chicken and similar. Léon makes mainly pasta dishes.

Tonight Anna let me in on her cunning plan: 'Next time I'm on cooking mum I'm going to make fish and chips. But I'm not going to make it. I'm going to go to that wee shop near ASDA with the pizza oven because when you go in there and ask for fish and chips they just make it for you and give you it in a box. That's much easier!'

I think she's missing the point of our cooking lessons!