home at 4:45;the kids were hungry and I was tired. So, I decided to warm afrozen lasagne and have that and green beans.Three-year-old Maegan wanted to help, and tonight was theperfect night since dinner was going to be so simple.So first, I put the lasagne in the microwave to cook, set thetimer, and let Maegan press the 'start' button. That's greatexcitement to her, you know. I'm sure you've seen the same thingwith your toddlers.Then we put the lasagne in the oven together to brown. She knowswhere the light button is on the oven, and she loves to be ableto check on her food cooking all by herself.Just before the lasagne was done, I opened the cans of greenbeans. I gave her a container and the opened cans. She was soexcited to pour the green beans into the dish (and that's alsogood motor development work). She concentrated so hard to makesure all the beans went into t...

...he dish. But, the green beans werein a pile, so she asked for a spoon to 'spread out 'her' greenbeans.' I let her do that, and then we put them in the microwave- with her pressing the start button of course.Then she went at sat at the table and beamed. I told her thankyou for being such a big help to Mom.She said, 'I love to be a helper, Mom.'My heart melted. She was so happy and proud to have made dinner.She was so pleased to play such an important role in makingdinner.And, once again, I was reminded how vital it is to make our kidsfeel important. It's just as necessary for the development oftheir self-worth as the activities we are so careful to includeto progress their motor development.It's more than just a can of green beans - it was playing theimportant role....