Growing up, my favorite dish at the Thanksgiving table each year, was sweet potato casserole. I was always amazed that my mom could turn sweet potatoes into something so ooey, gooey, and delicious!
Kids in the kitchen.
My children have always loved helping me with anything and everything I do in the kitchen(except the cleaning part….). So when Thanksgiving rolled around each year, the children each wanted to contribute to the cooking and baking. I let each child choose the dish he/she would like to prepare.
Every year, my daughter would choose to make sweet potato casserole. My mom was just tickled to be able to share this recipe and prepare her signature dish with her only granddaughter. I’m so thankful that the two most important women in my life were able to bond over something as strange as sweet potatoes. Even though my mom is no longer with us, my daughter cherishes those memories, and I cannot wait to taste her sweet potato casserole this year. Each bite reminds me of my mom and those precious times I was able to work in the kitchen with her.
Sweet potatoes
Sweet potatoes fascinate me. Each one is so unique. If you go to the supermarket, walk over and take a look at those sweet potatoes. Can you find any two that are identical?
Isn’t that just like our children? No two children will have the exact same interests or dreams, learn the exact same way, or truly shine exactly alike.
Sweet potatoes usually have a tough outer skin, often full of blemishes and imperfections, that is pretty hard to cut through. However once you slice one open, that bright orange color just shines through.
Wow! Once again, these sweet potatoes are a lot like our children.
It can also be really difficult to cut through the tough exterior our children like to display, and truly connect with those bright-shining hearts, but it is always worth the effort.
I’d like to share a few different activities and projects that you can do with sweet potatoes.
My hope is that as you try out any one of these, or as you see a sweet potato casserole or even just a sweet potato in the store, is that you take a moment to think about ways to break through and truly connect with your child’s heart.
Sweet potatoes can be fun!
- Play “hot potato” with a sweet potato.
- Give each child a sweet potato, some feathers, and some google eyes, and ask them to create a TURKEY.
- Run a relay race or obstacle course with a sweet potato on their head(this one is fun even for adults!)
- Sword fight–each person is given 2 spoons and one sweet potato. Goal is to keep your sweet potato on your spoon while trying to knock off someone else’s potato. Once your sweet potato falls, you’re out. See who can hold on to their sweet potato the longest.
If you enjoyed this post, I’d love for you to check out my earlier blog post:
https://learningisawayoflife.com/making-thanksgiving-memories-with-your-teen/
