My three-year-old is my youngest of three boys and the biggest helper of them all. When we go grocery shopping he always has to grab the little cart and push it along with me, and will tell ME what I need to buy. "Oh, oh, milk, mommy, get some milk." "Nanas! Oh, oh, cheese, cheese!" He gets a lot of attention from the ladies at the store. Sometimes, I remember that old Shake-N-Bake commercial where the little girl goes, "It's Shake-N-Bake! And I helped!" in her little southern drawl. Makes me giggle.
So today was no different when I decided to try a new smoothie recipe. He saw me grab the blender and immediately yelled at me, "Oh, I want to help! I want to help!" It gets pretty silly when he wants to help me, he gets so impatient to the point of almost crying. I encourage him with, "Okay, wait until Mommy gets everything out."
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| Oops! Forgot the almond butter in the picture |
First, I grabbed the almond milk.
"Oh! I wanna do it! Let me do it!"
So I assist him with pouring the milk into the blender. Then I get the almond butter and a spoon.
"Let me do it! Let me do it!"
He not-so-delicately bangs the spoon on the side of the jar. Next, I grab two bananas and start to peel them.
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| Carefully peeling the "nanas" |
"Mommy! I said I wanna do it!"
I sweetly tell him, "it's okay, you can peel them and put them in. Mommy was just starting it for you."
"Okay, mama."
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| Adding the choc-wit chips |
After he squishes the bananas into the milk, and before I've had the chance to get anything else, he says, "Oh, I get the choc-wit chips." So he gets off the stool and runs over to the pantry to get the chocolate chips. And before he pours a few chips into the jar (of course) he picks one out and pops it into his mouth. "Mmm, that's good." (Nodding his head as he says it.)
Then I ask him, "What else do we need?"
"Umm, honey? Oh! And nola, it needs nola." (Nola = granola)
He props the huge bottle of honey on top of the blender and grunts as he attempts to squeeze the bottle. I help him squeeze it, but he makes a satisfactory sigh when a little bit drips into the smoothie mix. "That looks good, mama."
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| Is it ready? |
He then asks me if it's lid time, "I do it, I do it?" So I nod and he positions the lid in place. When it's ready to turn on, he doesn't say a word. He'll give me this look with his eyes and then he'll smile real big and nod his head as if to ask me, "Now?" So if I nod back he gets to flip the switch. I love to mess with him a little by shaking my head, then he will giggle and wait for me to nod.
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| Hand at the ready! |
So I nod, and he bounces up and down a little on the step-stool and then flips the switch. Giggling over a blender whirling a smoothie is just about the silliest thing.
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| I help Mama! |
Jonah's Delight Smoothie
Ingredients:
- 2 c ice
- 2 c almond milk (with 2 cups of ice in the blender, I fill it up with almond milk to the 3 cup mark, so I'm not really sure the exact measurement)
- 2 bananas, peeled
- 1/2 c almond butter
- 2 T honey
- 1 T milk chocolate chips
- 1/4 c granola (optional)
Pour all ingredients into a blender, pulse a few seconds then blend on full speed for 1-2 minutes. Pour into favorite beverage container and enjoy! Makes 4 servings.
