Scotty's Hobbies

Tommy goes to a Montessori school, and they have a 'wish list'.  I went over to an online Montessori store to buy one of the items off their wish list, where I found their sister-site, For Small Hands.  The prices were actually very reasonable, and so I picked up a few things for the boys to play with.  I love many things about Montessori learning, not the least of which is that so much of the early education is about household play, and the older kids do a lot of work with textiles. 

But it's not just "pretend household" stuff, it's stuff you can really use!  A clothesline with tiny, working clothes pins.  *sigh*  Or, safety knives for cutting vegetables.  :)  Every morning, Scotty comes out to the kitchen and says, "What are you making today, Mommy?"  When I tell him what I'm cooking, he says, "I'm going to make something yummy too!" and then he runs back to his room (where his kitchen is) and whips up a picnic basket full of tasty...fake food....and then we all have to say, "Mmmmm!  Yummy!" and pretend to eat sushi.  Good times.

At the Montessori store, though, they had a baking set that had miniature functioning pans!  And a tiny wooden rolling pin!  And a chef's hat!  Awww, yeaaahhhhh! 

The set even came with scaled down recipes, that made the perfect amount of batter to use the tiny bundt-cake pan or the muffin tins!

The first thing he made was a couple dozen carrot muffins.  He 'helps' all the time in the kitchen, but there was a special kind of pride involved here; he really understood that this was all him, start to finish!

 I'm sorry, but...Pardon me while I swoon.  Those folded hands in his lap?  His tiny feet?   Pressed up against the window, watching his muffins bake?  Where are my salts?

Those muffins were delicious!  Tiny, tiny, bite-sized goodness, and he couldn't have been cuter.

That is, he couldn't be cuter unless you caught up with him while he was enjoying his second favorite hobby...  The doll house.  My boy is so domestic!

 He and I have spent countless hours playing with our house!  We like to set up the whole house, and we're both obsessed with the 'details'...where should this potted plant go?  Which rooms should have the clocks?  Let's make a new blanket for the crib!  Oh, boy!!  Once we have the house just so, we like to think about what everybody is doing.  

Scotty usually puts both babies and both kids in the big play room.  That's a happening spot, to be sure!  He puts Mommy in the kitchen and Daddy is either in bed or on the couch.  Hmmmm.....

After an hour of playing, he usually stands next to me and starts telling me where to put things, and what should be happening.  "No, put that baby in the crib.  Take that one out!  Put the other one in.  Mommy is at the stove, not the refrigerator.  Move the shower over here.  Why don't you put two toilets in the bathroom?  That table is too small.  Put her at the desk."

Once we get to this phase of the festivities, I know it's time to put our toys down for a while.  Last thing I need is a four year old pecking at my neck.