Is it "your" kitchen or a family kitchen?

[treestarfae]

Do your kids help with cooking? Your spouse or anyone else help with cooking? Do you ban everyone from the kitchen?

[*Lulu*]

Everyone cooks one night a week. (Depending on the meal the kids get more or less assistance.)

 

Since the cook is not the dishwasher, everyone wants to be the cook.

 

I still kick everyone out from time to time for my sanity.

(Especially when I am cooking a new recipe or making something in a hurry.)

[kewb]

A bit of both.  My kids make their own breakfasts and lunches.  I cook dinner.  My dd likes to help me bake cookies.  Sometimes she will assist with a salad. 

 

It is my own fault that they do not help out more when I am in there.  When they were little I worked full time and I just wanted to get dinner on the table quickly.  I did not encourage them to help as much as I should have.

 

 

[Julie Smith]

Everyone can do whatever in my kitchen. Dh cooks a bunch. Kids help themselves. ...

[NicAnn]

I cook the bulk of our food. But DH makes his lunch for the week now, and DD makes breakfast a few times a week. Nutrition is another member of our family, because of allergies and restrictions...so it's really important everyone have access.

[LostSurprise]

I feel like its my kitchen.  :closedeyes:

 

However, dh cooks in the kitchen all the time and I try to involve the boys as much as possible. Its open for use for those who care. Its mine in the same way the bookshelves are mine. I just happen to  care more than everyone else.  :laugh: Its also one of the few areas where I really need it to look a certain way. It makes me feel peaceful to see a clean kitchen. It allows others to be messy elsewhere. 

[fairfarmhand]

It is MY kitchen. Others are there by permission only. :)

 

I have to mentally prepare myself for "help" in the kitchen. I love my kitchen and I love cooking in it. I've told my dh if we ever move, the kitchen must come too.

 

Here's a picture,

 

[beaners]

My husband cooks just as much as I do, but neither of us *rule* the kitchen.  The kids help out with some things like making my coffee or chopping snacking on vegetables for our meals. They help flip the pancakes when my husband makes breakfast.

 

There are times when I forbid anyone to enter the kitchen because it isn't safe with hot things and so many small, unpredictable creatures in one space.  Sometimes I kick them out when they keep going in the fridge for fruit and dinner is 2 minutes from being cool enough to dish out.  I had friends growing up with "no kids in the kitchen" house rules.  We aren't like that.  It's just safer not to have six people between the stove and sink when I need to drain pasta.

[Jeannie in NJ]

ours is a family kitchen.  My dh is a better cook than me so he cooks most dinners.. I have a picture of him teaching dd, when she was about 6, how to make a homemade pizza.  I taught her how to make cookies at about that same early age and she has been baking and cooking ever since.  Even her boyfriend will take over the kitchen and cook a meal, usually breakfast (pancakes or waffles from scratch, eggs, pork roll, etc) and he has also made dinner.  The kitchen is the main area of our house, it is open to the dining room, living room and sunroom, no doors so everyone ends up there.

 

compared to dh, dd and her bf, I actually do the least amount of cooking, which is fine with me.

[Pawz4me]

Keeping in mind that my boys are older --

 

Breakfast and lunch are generally fend-for-yourself meals.  I keep us well-supplied with easy to fix but still relatively healthy stuff.

 

I always cook dinner.  DH helps with the clean-up.

 

The kitchen (like the rest of the house except for bedrooms) is absolutely "ours."  I can't imagine declaring any of the main gathering spots in our home as mine and mine alone.

[mathmarm]

Hubby and I each have our own kitchen space, Jr is welcome in the kitchen but seeing as how he's only a few weeks old, he doesn't really have an opinion. Hubby and I share in the cooking/cleaning of the house pretty equally though.

 

My MIL on the other hand, is crazy protective of her kitchen. She taught her kids to stay out of her kitchen--for Hubby learning to cook with his mom in the kitchen was a rite of passage. She is still very protective of her kitchen, she loves to cook for us but doesn't like us in her kitchen.

[Stacia]

I don't really enjoy cooking, so anyone who wants to fix a meal in there is welcome to it. Dh & I both cook, as well as ds. Dd seems to have no interest in cooking. It really just depends on who has the time to cook or who has planned a meal. (Lately it's been me but I keep hoping that will change soon, lol.) I often clean up the kitchen. (I much prefer cleaning the kitchen to doing the cooking.)

 

I do enjoy my coffee sitting at the table reading.

[fairfarmhand]

Hubby and I each have our own kitchen space, Jr is welcome in the kitchen but seeing as how he's only a few weeks old, he doesn't really have an opinion. Hubby and I share in the cooking/cleaning of the house pretty equally though.

 

My MIL on the other hand, is crazy protective of her kitchen. She taught her kids to stay out of her kitchen--for Hubby learning to cook with his mom in the kitchen was a rite of passage. She is still very protective of her kitchen, she loves to cook for us but doesn't like us in her kitchen.

 

This is why I love the layout of my kitchen. Kids can be on the other side of the counter "helping" without being in my way.  They can hang out and talk (I am fine with that) but not be standing in the way of hot pots. It is the perfect set up for our family.

[BYE]

.

[AK_Mom4]

Definitely not possessive about the kitchen, lol.  Of course, I rarely cook - DH is the chef here.

 

At our house, the kitchen is open to the dining room, which doubles as my office and schoolroom.  Traffic flow in the house has people coming into the laundry room, wandering through the kitchen and making themselves at home at the table in the dining room.  If someone wanted to feel possessive about the kitchen, the floor plan would probably drive them mad.

[Arcadia]

My kids were my sous chef. Now they can cook independently if they want to. My hubby helps clean up if I am tired.

[Night Elf]

DH and I do the dinner cooking but there are meals the kids don't like so they fix their own dinner. The kitchen is open all day to help ourselves.

[elfgivas]

my very favourite thing is to be in the kitchen with lots and lots of people cooking, talking, chatting, laughing, chopping, kneading, braising, etc, etc. our kitchen layout is almost the mirror image of fairfarmhand's (except there is a door where her stove is, and the stove is beside the dishwasher. ours looks a little narrower, too. but it means lots of counter space for lots of folks to work. we have a baking area with canisters of ingredients, etc. as each area has evolved its purpose, i have moved around the things in the cupboards so that everything one might need is within reach of the spot where it will be prepared.

 

however, when its time to clean up, the kitchen appears to be mostly mine.... something i'd love to change, but which seems to be changing slowly on its own, so i'm just letting it unfold as long as it unfolds in the right direction!

 

i grew up in a house where the kitchen was my mother's. we're different people. i like this way best for me.

 

ann

[Chris in VA]

It's a room in the house. 

 

BTW, I have very similar cabinets to yours, Fairfarmhand, and similar counters, too! lol--I'd post a pic but haven't done dishes yet.

[iona]

Our kitchen feels like a trap, so one at a time usually. I am the one most likely to kick others out. If the dishwasher is open, there is no room for anyone. So no one's kitchen?

[DawnM]

When I was on vacation for 12 days, DH made each kid take a turn cooking.  They each cooked 3-4 times.  I don't know why I haven't continued that idea, but I need to!

[Lara in Colo]

My kitchen is tiny and we all seem to mush in there most times, but if I am cooking furiously (quickly or for an event and doing several things at once) everyone knows it is MY kitchen they had better stay clear (even the cat gets stepped on until he learns to stay away).  Unfortunately, the door to the back yard and the laundry room is through the kitchen  **sigh*** if only I had the money------------------

[Mandylubug]

It is MY kitchen. Others are there by permission only. :)

 

I have to mentally prepare myself for "help" in the kitchen. I love my kitchen and I love cooking in it. I've told my dh if we ever move, the kitchen must come too.

 

Here's a picture,

 

love your kitchen! I had a long counter/workspace like that in AZ when we lived on post. Our house in GA is chopped up. I really miss the full counter on my right while cooking. Sigh....one day maybe! I've considered having cutting boards special made to fit into my sinks now. You know like they do in campers, etc.

[Murphy101]

My kitchen when I'm cleaning it or using it.

 

I probably only cook about 2-4 times a week. The rest is various kids or dh making family meals.

 

It drives me batty when it's a mess or I can't find stuff. Other than that, I don't care what they do in there.

 

It's not an open kitchen though. We have menus and anything off menu has to be cleared with dh or I. But as far as who makes what off the menu? Don't care.

 

I don't like cooking with others very much. Just get out or sit at the table and chat and let me get it done, tyvm. It's only been the last few years that dh and I cook well together instead of just annoying each other. Obviously I taught the kids to cook starting around the tween ages. Any younger than that and I just get too irritated too easily. I always feel slightly guilty admitting that because apparently there is this image that all mothers, especially home school mother, triple especially mothers of many, must not only enjoy cooking but enjoy the required repeating directions ad nauseum, cleaning double the mess, and taking twice as long to make the meal that comes with cooking with kids. Well I just don't. Once they get a bit older to where it's not quite so much extra work for me to show them the ropes, I don't mind much and sometimes even enjoy it if I have the time to be relaxed about it.

[snickerplum]

The kids love to help in the kitchen and my husband is a very good cook. When things are going well it's the family's kitchen. When they start driving me nuts it's mine and they must vacate. :)

[fairfarmhand]

 Any younger than that and I just get too irritated too easily. I always feel slightly guilty admitting that because apparently there is this image that all mothers, especially home school mother, triple especially mothers of many, must not only enjoy cooking but enjoy the required repeating directions ad nauseum, cleaning double the mess, and taking twice as long to make the meal that comes with cooking with kids. Well I just don't. Once they get a bit older to where it's not quite so much extra work for me to show them the ropes, I don't mind much and sometimes even enjoy it if I have the time to be relaxed about it.

 

yup. Me too.

[maize]

I do most of the cooking, but everyone uses the kitchen, I don't think of it as MY space.

[Word Nerd]

It's mostly mine but I've been trying to involve the kids more in cooking and cleaning now that we have a kitchen that's big enough for multiple people to use it at the same time. DH doesn't cook much but is traveling for work fairly often.

[fairfarmhand]

love your kitchen! I had a long counter/workspace like that in AZ when we lived on post. Our house in GA is chopped up. I really miss the full counter on my right while cooking. Sigh....one day maybe! I've considered having cutting boards special made to fit into my sinks now. You know like they do in campers, etc.

 

Look what I found...

 

http://www.casa.com/p/handy-gourmet-over-sink-cutting-board-575432?site=CA&utm_source=Google&utm_medium=cpc_C&utm_term=FPS-75686&utm_campaign=GoogleAW&CAWELAID=1468253500&utm_content=pla&adtype=pla&cagpspn=pla

[swellmomma]

The kids do cook but they trash the place which irks me to no end.  THough I do say it is my kitchen. Until they are paying the mortgage, and for the groceries it will remain My kitchen and they best be remembering that.  Just like it is my livingroom, my office, my backroom etc. Yes it is their home, but things are maintained as such my way since it is my house kwim.  The kitchen is no different.  Ds15 is cooking his own recipe of beefaroni today for lunch so they certainly can be in their cooking but he did have to ask first if he could and if I needed certain ingredients for another meal.

[Mandylubug]

Look what I found...

 

http://www.casa.com/p/handy-gourmet-over-sink-cutting-board-575432?site=CA&utm_source=Google&utm_medium=cpc_C&utm_term=FPS-75686&utm_campaign=GoogleAW&CAWELAID=1468253500&utm_content=pla&adtype=pla&cagpspn=pla

It's on sale too! Not sure where I'd store it when not using it. I suppose I could leave it there lol

[dbmamaz]

everyone helps at various times.  i am the main cook, but hubby helps with some meals and does the dishes, kids put away dishes, teen makes gluten free bread in the bread machine and makes a peanut sauce for lunch sometimes, kids help a little here and there - more right after knee surgery.  I'm in charge, but of the food, not the space?

[fairfarmhand]

The kids do cook but they trash the place which irks me to no end. 

 

ugh. I know. My dd's idea of cleaning up after herself is to pile the dirty dishes in the sink and put the ingredients away. No wiping things down or actually washing the dishes. I've taken to saying. "See the way that the kitchen looks right now? That is exactly how I want it to look when you are done. No crumbs, empty sink with dirty dishes in the DW."

[redsquirrel]

The very idea of it being 'my' kitchen is a nightmare to me. Just like it is not 'my' house. We all live here and we all have responsibilities to each other and ourselves. No way am I getting trapped in one room or one role.

 

[lllll]

..

[sassenach]

We school in our dining room/kitchen, so I feel like the whole family pretty much lives there.  Everyone cooks, but I almost solely do dinners.  My only rule is to ask before using an ingredient (because I meal plan).  Otherwise, they can have at it.  Everyone but dh has some sort of kitchen cleaning task also.  

 

I do kick them all out of the kitchen when I'm dinner prepping.  Ours is too small to function with them milling about.  

[beaners]

ugh. I know. My dd's idea of cleaning up after herself is to pile the dirty dishes in the sink and put the ingredients away. No wiping things down or actually washing the dishes. I've taken to saying. "See the way that the kitchen looks right now? That is exactly how I want it to look when you are done. No crumbs, empty sink with dirty dishes in the DW."

 

LOL.  I'm the grownup in this house and that's about as far as I get when I finish cooking something.  We don't have a dishwasher, in my defense.

[Janie Grace]

It's mostly my kitchen when it comes to cooking. The kids use it to get cereal or make a sandwich or an occasional hot meal (mac & cheese, eggs, etc). Dh uses it if I'm beat and he's being heroic. But mostly, when it comes to cooking, it's mine. When it comes to dishes, it's everyone's. :)

 

I shoo people out when I'm at the point in dinner prep where I'm moving fast and transferring hot things from place to place. Otherwise, people are welcome to mill around and chat. We even have a rocking chair in the corner for this very purpose!

[KrissiK]

It's my kitchen. I do let the kids make stuff for dinner from time to time, under supervision, but... I'm possessive about my kitchen. I don't even like people helping clean up after dinner, besides clearing the table and scraping the plates. I know, I'm weird.

[BlessedMom]

Hmmmm,  I do not think of it as my kitchen, it is our home & our kitchen however, I am the only one who cooks meals.

Our kitchen is small & for the most part I really do not like to work with others in the kitchen.

[Roadrunner]

My husband is an amazing cook, so it's definitely a family kitchen. In fact we think cooking together is loads of fun!

[QueenCat]

Family kitchen. No one needs anyone else's permission to do what they want/need to do in there.... I only ask that if you want to make something you don't normally make, ask if the ingredients are planned for a specific meal that is coming up really soon. Dh cooks more than I do........... I'd say he has picked out most of our pots/pans and kitchen tools.

[Ellie]

You bet it's my kitchen. It happens to be in a family home, so of course family members are welcome to go in there, but I will teach them how to do what they want to do, including how to clean up after themselves, so that when they are adults they can take care of themselves (and their families).

[Rosie_0801]

Family kitchen until someone starts putting things back somewhere other than where they obtained it from, forgets how to put rubbish in the bin properly or can't see the filth they've just left in the sink.  :glare: 

The pantry may only be accessed by people old enough they don't take one bite out of each apple! 

[Spryte]

Family kitchen here, too.  DH does most of the cooking.   :001_wub:

 

 

Unless someone under 18 leaves a horrendous mess, in which case it suddenly becomes "my" kitchen and they must clean it back up!  

[MAIMOM]

Family kitchen...DH helps by being company but kids help out a lot. I love preparing meals together especially during the holidays. Cook usually does not do dishes so my kids love to help cook also like another poster....

[Guest]

Definitely a family kitchen.  While I wasn't banished from the kitchen as a kid, I wasn't encouraged to learn either.  When I got a little older and my grandfather retired, he loved spending his time cooking.  Some of my best memories were in the kitchen with him, learning how to cook.  I wanted that for my own kids, so I have always encouraged them to help cook.  All three of my kids have been in the kitchen, helping, since they were big enough to stand on a chair and reach the counter.  

[momacacia]

Depends on the mood I'm in ...

 

But to answer the topic question--it's all mine! The husband is mine, the kids are mine, the kitchen, the house, the vehicles, the yard, mine, mine, mine. That hairbrush 8yo thinks is hers, it's mine (until I let her run off with it). Step away everybody, it's MIIIIINE! ;-)