Masterchef Yash

When it comes to the food department, I have been extremely lucky! I started Yash on solid food from his 6th month onward, with Ragi mixture and cerelac. By the time he was 8 months old, I used to give him mashed rice with vegetables and dal. By his first birthday, he was eating almost every variety of the South Indian breakfast consisting of Idlys, Dosas, Chapatis and so on. From then till now, when he is all of 5 yrs and 7 months, I have never had to cook for him separately. 

I have seen mothers who've had to run behind their toddlers, cook up not just food but stories too, coax their little ones for hours on end, just to get a morsel of food in. Well, touch wood, I have had the great fortune bestowed upon me, I never had to do these things ;) Blessed, right?

Me and my husband have always encouraged Yash to eat by himself. Even if that meant a fight with messiness, hours of him and his plate conjoined, and maybe a little less than usual nutrition. By two years, Yash was able to pick up and eat by himself.

The month of November, in his school, Podar Jumbo Kids, Yash was learning about the food pyramid. One of the worksheets of homeplay was for Yash to list down his favorite dish, write the ingredients and the preparation method. His current favorite dish is, wait - for - it, 'Puliyogare'. For the ones who don't know, this is a preparation where a spicy tamarind mixture is mixed with boiled rice. It's one of the easiest things to prepare. Once again, Blessed right?

On 16th Nov, Podar Jumbo Kids had organized Masterchef Junior, 'Dadi Ki Receipe, Mummy Pappa ke Sang'. Yash obviously wanted to put up his favorite dish. It was quite simple, a matter of mixing all the ingredients together. The event also required us to come up with a catchy rhyme or song about what we'd made. When we discussed this with Yash, asking him what he wanted to do, he came up with a song, just like that. He loves a series, The Little Einsteins. He used the tune of its theme song and put the words as
TANGY, TANGY, TANGY DELIGHT, lines about the ingredients, and about how mixing it all together made the tangy delight.

We rehearsed the song a couple of times, packed our stuff up and went to the event. It wasn't a competition since Podar Jumbo Kids believes that children below 6 years should not compete as they are still learning to cooperate. So, there was absolutely no pressure on us too, to put up anything spectacular. Now, the beauty of this situation was, the process became more important than the event itself. We let Yash take charge, telling us what he wanted to put up as his entry, how he wanted to sing the song, what he wanted to name the dish, etc. These are experiences which will probably let him know that he is indeed capable of taking decisions. At an age, where he is dabbling in understanding his concept of self, this could provide quite insightful.

The chief guest and other participants came by our bench to see what we were putting up. We let Yash mix the ingredients together. Surprisingly, Yash was no longer interested in being there after that. He had found his friends and just wanted to do what all kids want, run and play. We got to present each dish to the chief guest as a family. Our otherwise confident and outspoken boy, was suddenly shy and had forgotten his lines from his own song.

This process of displaying our work, even in the absence of pressure and competition, can be daunting. this whole exchange has given a new insight into the role of pressure on children to perform. We try and never parade him in front of relatives, or friends. We do ask him if he wants to display a new talent he's acquired, and only if he wants to, he does.

Each experience in life is shaping us into something better. Don't know about Yash, but this parenting stuff has definitely made us into better human beings!

Happy Parenting you all!