Double Jeopardy

Maya decided this month that she wants to start a cupcake shop.  She will call it “The Lucky Cupcake.”  She’s been honing her baking skills in the hopes of becoming the next pastry chef extraordinaire!  Every occasion (as of late) inevitably warrants a new batch of sweet bites…at least in Maya’s world.  The latest concoction would be in celebration of St. Patty’s Day.  She carefully selected her ‘Irish’ cupcake recipe and noted down all the ingredients.  She then dragged Daddy to the grocery store to collect the goodies.  Although exhausted from an long day at work, I arrived home recalling my promise to her that we would bake them together.  The deal was that she would handle all the ingredients, prepare the cupcake pans and pour the batter.  My ONLY task was to mix.  Everything went perfectly up until I foolishly questioned one final, fundamental ingredient.  She’s learning fractions in school and sadly, I misinterpreted her ‘version’ of ONE-HALF.  As a result, I added triple the amount of milk instead of simply letting her complete the last step.  So we spent the next hour fixing my flub.  The next day, Maya did not want any repeat mistakes, so she insisted her Dad help complete the ‘fluffy white’ frosting that would go onto the cupcakes which he did (reluctantly) and proceeded to burn the sugar causing a melt-down in the kitchen and the frosting tossed swiftly into the garbage.  Thankfully, they were able to laugh about it later.  So the moral of the story…do not bake (or engage in any meaningful projects) with your child unless you are 100% into it.  The end result will be much more appetizing!