When the natives get restless, assign a meaningful task

It was late afternoon, and the boys' play was tending towards the wild side.

We had soup on the menu for dinner, and I had just started with the requisite slicing and dicing... As I listened to the ruckus in the living room, I was reminded of a workshop, given by Barbara Dewey, I'd attended several years ago. One of my "take home messages" was to let kids try out some of those "dangerous activities" -- like using knives, or lighting candles with matches -- under your watchful eye.

So, I whipped out some more knives and cutting boards, and called in my young chefs. We discussed the task at hand, and, then... They happily turned their energy from fighting to chopping... and I put my faith in them. In relatively short order, we had a bowl full of cut-up ingredients -- and no injuries!