Eat Your (Plastic) Fruits and Vegetables

We got A one of those big kitchen playsets (my friend's sister was closing a preschool and sold a bunch of stuff). It didn't come with any supplies, so I ran over to Toys R Us (wasn't it Dave Barry who always called it "Toys Sure R Expensive?") and bought plastic fruits, plastic vegetables, plastic doughnuts, and a set of pink, purple, and yellow dishes. It took me a good half-hour to wrestle the dishes out of the plastic display box.

The kitchen has been up and running for two days. As far as I can tell, there is no method to her madness. She stores the doughnuts in the sink and the pitcher of milk in the microwave. The dishes are in the refrigerator and the utensils are in the oven. She serves us "milk" from a little pitcher. We drink it out of tiny blue cups. I noticed that she usually takes a big swig out of the same pitcher from which she just served us. The kid has a lot to learn about proper food handling, I tell ya. She does provide good service, though. "It's good? Want some more?"

In addition to serving gallons of milk to me and her daddy, she also prepares meals for the dogs. Yesterday I found Karl (our old black dog) sitting on the floor with a pink plate between his paws. On the plate was a pink doughnut and a blue fork (what, you don't eat your doughnuts with a fork???) She also prepares meals for Gideon (our Boxer) and Odin (our foster Boxer). The problem here is that the dogs will definitely eat the plastic food if given half a chance. So I go around picking up the plastic plates and the plastic food, all the while sending my compliments back to the chef ("Gideon says thanks! He said it was the best lemon he's ever eaten!") About the lemon - sometimes she squeezes it into the milk she's given me, which I find a little alarming.

I'm always trying to think of toys that might keep A occupied on her own for a few minutes at a time (I keep telling her, "You're an only child - you really should learn to play by yourself.") The kitchen, as it turns out, is as interactive as they come. You don't have to wonder what I'll be doing this evening - I'll be gnawing on an ear of corn and drinking my lemony-good milk, of course.