Child development specialists tell us that baking with your kids can be fun and educational.

You can read about it on this site.

I know mothers who routinely bake with their children.
I am not one of these women.

I can cook with my children.

Cooking means throwing things in --
Using what you have.

Cooking means you can make mistakes.

Baking, on the other hand, requires accurate measurement -- quantities, time, temperature.

Baking requires your complete attention.

I don't have complete attention.

I lost it in the delivery room.

I know mothers who bake.

I know mothers who bake with their children and then send the cookies to the grandparents in Denver.

I have even heard of mothers who bake with their children, while simultaneously videoing the lovely baking experience and then send the video and the cookies to the grandparents in Denver.

I would love to be the grandmother.

I would sit and eat a bucket of cookies while watching my darling little ones in their cute little aprons, mixing the dough and dropping the cookie batter neatly on the baking pan.

But I could never ever be the mother videoing my kids in the kitchen.

Here is what you would see:

Dirty pots and pans.
Flour and water pasted on the table and walls.
Food coloring dyeing the floor.
Chips on the walls.
Children fighting over who is going to mix.

Here is what you would hear:

Me yelling.
My children yelling.

The only way my mother is going to get cookies is if she comes to visit and we buy a package of them.

Yes, baking with the little darlings can be a rewarding experience. But I honestly don't know how any mother can bake with more than one kid.

"Samantha put in the cup of sugar and Samantha mixed 16 times so I get to put in more sugar and mix another 16 times."

"Morgan cracked the egg so I get to crack an egg."

And then the three-year-old breaks the egg on the floor
and the package of flour falls on the floor.

Now the kids are throwing flour, the doorbell is ringing,
the phone is ringing.

The washing machine is overflowing,
The baby needs to be changed.

And the cookies are burning.

When I take them out they're inedible mini Frisbees.

Here they are, kids.

(Now they really have something to throw.)

Go ahead, enjoy.

And you know what?

They do.

(I'm happy too. Cooking time is over!)