When it comes to having kids help out in the kitchen, Sarah Michelle Gellar is a huge fan. According to the Jewish mom and actress, kids should learn responsibility and take ownership over their chores, and specifically, learn to help out.
Gellar, who is a mom of two (8-year-old Charlotte and 5-year-old Rocky), along with husband Freddie Prinze Jr., is the co-founder of the DIY baking kits and organic mixes Foodstirs and the author of Stirring Up Fun with Food: Over 115 Simple, Delicious Ways to Be Creative in the Kitchen.
So, you know, she knows a thing or two about cooking — and why kids should help out around the kitchen. She told Today that she includes her kids while she’s cooking:
I’m not a restaurant. I believe in including my kids in the process. We went to the farmer’s market and they get to pick vegetables they eat over the weekend. I give them a list at the supermarket and ask them to get something. We have a rule in our house. You have to try something 10 times and two times more before you decide whether or not you like it.
She went on to say that she enjoys cooking from scratch with her kids, saying, “I do a lot of cooking with the kids. I’m big on child labor. The kids have to help with the mashed potatoes. You want them to understand what the process is. Everything doesn’t come from a box in your house.”
That being said, she’s not about to pay her kids to help her do chores, saying, “I don’t love the idea of giving them money to do chores that they should do anyway.”
Gellar has strong opinions — and sticks to them — which is probably one of the smartest things she can do in the Age of Mommy Shaming. And, of course, she has advice for that, too: “Give zero (expletives).”
At the end of the day, you have to choose the best parenting style for you. You do you, basically.
