A surprise treat!

Two days ago, my daughter Manasvi (the elder one who is 10 years old) surprised me. She said, "I'll cook dinner tonight -you relax!" I was overwhelmed, and hugged her. I had just come back from a walk and her idea of "you relax" was most welcoming. But then leaving the kitchen to a 10-year old is not an easy job. I tried to hang around and help her but she was very vehement that I would not be doing any such thing - I was worried about her handling the gas stove and using the kitchen knives (even though they are a little blunt, things like these in her hands are definite weapons of mass destruction!!). She literally pushed me out of the kitchen and repeated again "RELAX".

Okay, fine. I said to myself. Let her learn, she will probably call out to me in a few minutes asking for help to light the stove or to chop some vegetable. But no, she finished everything - prepared dinner, set the table and then called out to me. I was stunned. She'd made tomato soup (thanks to Knorr). She tried to be a little creative. She boiled pasta and added it to the soup and not to forget the "vegetables", she put in some corn and peas (her most preferred veggies!) And lo, we had a wholesome dish to eat and drink for dinner! Her younger sister loved it as well and in fact the next day she asked me "Will Akka be preparing dinner again today? It was so nice yesterday"!!

After the pleasant dinner, my daughter added "okay Amma, I cooked dinner tonight; now how about you doing my homework?" I was speechless!