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Summer is in full swing at our house, and that means new routines are replacing our school year ones. There’s no homework at night, and evening commitments are nearly nil. We are excited to fill this free time with things we wouldn’t otherwise have time for. There have been more art projects, more hours outside, and (lots) more trips out for ice cream. This week, we’re attempting a new tradition that my sons have wanted to try for some time now: Kids Cook Dinner Night.

Both of my children really love to cook. They’ve been helping out in the kitchen with simple tasks like chopping, mixing, and pouring since they were tiny, and both of them have some respectable culinary skills, given their ages. They are convinced they could easily prepare dinner for the four of us with only some adult assistance to put things into the oven and take them out again. They looked at the list of our “usual” dinners and debated what they could do, and settled upon making individual pizzas for us. I grabbed their requested ingredients at the store, and I am setting them lose tomorrow evening for their first attempt as the new family chefs.

If all goes well, i.e., nothing catches fire and we find ourselves with edible meals, this could end up being a great new weekly tradition! They have grand plans for coming up with a menu of “kid-made dinners” they can prepare on their own for my husband and me to choose from each week, and future plans to add desserts to the repertoire. And if not…there’s always frozen pizzas!