My almost-4 year old son and I spent much of yesterday afternoon baking cookies (KAF Sugar Cookies, to be exact). Cooking with him is a mess and it definitely takes much longer than doing the work solo. It's also a never-ending challenge to keep him from licking spoons, eating the sugar, licking his fingers (and sticking them back in the dough), etc. Plus he usually gets bored mid-project and wanders off. But we keep at it because there is so much value in it and both of us are learning. Him, a little math, a little cooking skill; me, a lot more patience. He was so proud to give his daddy the cookies we made yesterday as a Valentine this morning. And his daddy can overlook the fact that the preschooler licked the knife used for the frosting as well as the shaker with the sugar sprinkles...

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