When I first began my cooking classes, at least the ones that were officially for the mini-chefs instead of for the mamas, we had thirteen two year olds running around, wielding-and that would definitely be the word-wooden spoons, whisks, and spatulas. It was quite the chaotic class and a huge opportunity and crash course for me to learn about teaching very small children.
The next year, because that huge group of children then had younger siblings, including a set of natural twins, our class got even bigger. As their teacher, I would call upon my yoga training and years of meditation to go my stillest place. The stillest place? It is the place where things are constantly shifting, going with the flow, adjusting to the circumstances, and it is the place from which I tried to move. With the help of all the other mothers and many wonderful babysitters who were willing to pitch in, we got through that year and even had some fun in the process. At the end of that year, I think we counted 25 children altogether, including newborns and four sets of twins.
After that, my classes had a cap of 8 children. Electronically, you could not enroll for class if it had already been filled. First come, first served. This turned some students away, but it made for such a lovely year. After two years of practice with a humungous class, it was smooth sailing with my classes of 6-8 students.
This year, there will be two cooking classes, and the first class, pictured above, happened already. Somehow, because of a small mix up on my part and other various scheduling details, 12 students showed up for class yesterday. All sets of brothers and sisters (or pairs of brothers AND pairs of sisters). When I looked out at this crowd, I started having flashbacks. How would I manage?
The strangest thing happened. It was fine. They listened. The big kids helped the little kids. They cooked. They ate. They ate some more. They played. It was even, dare I say it, easy.
The punch line? Guess how many kids are signed up for my other class? Two. Love it that the Universe always has a twinkle in its eye….
The theme for next week’s Corner View is “The Incredible, The Mysterious Mustache”. Take a look around at these other Humor Corner Views from all over the globe:
