Last Wednesday I was out scrapbooking. My oldest texted me, “I MADE DINNER!”  I was feeling pretty darn proud until I bragged to one the ladies I was with. She asked, “How old is she?” in a tone as if she thought my twelve year old made dinner.

“Twenty-one… she’s a late bloomer.”

My daughters are capable of cooking, but never want to make dinner. My youngest, who is eighteen, will whip up a batch of cookies; my oldest will make herself brownie in a mug. But when it comes to an actual meal, they are both pretty helpless.

My own mother decided one summer it was time for my sister and me to learn how to plan and prepare a meal. One day every week one of us had to plan dinner, give her a grocery list, and make a whole, balanced meal on our own. My first week, I chose spaghetti, salad, and garlic bread. My sister’s first week, she chose tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches.

My mother figured it would be okay; it was a good warm up for meals yet to come. For my next turn I decided on meatloaf and mashed potatoes. When it was my sister’s turn again, she decided on tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches.

I probably protested that my sister was getting away with easy stuff. My sister’s argument was the rule only said we had to cook a meal, mom didn’t say it had to be difficult. My mother quit having us cook dinner after that. Her attempts to direct us to feed ourselves failed.

Cooking or the desire to cook doesn’t always come easily for people. It’s not on the radar of most teens. If they need to feed themselves, they’ll opt for something quick rather then put themselves out. It’s why we hear so much about students and twenty-somethings existing on Top Ramen. It’s not necessarily that they can’t afford real food; they just don’t want to take the time to make it.

I didn’t start cooking until after I was married. I was determined my husband and I would not rely on the fast food industry to feed us. I wasn’t a bad cook. The fact that my husband lost weight after we first moved into our house wasn’t a commentary on my cooking, only on decreasing his fast food intake. However, I didn’t experiment with recipes outside of the few things I picked up as a child. My repertoire didn’t expand until I started selling Pampered Chef when my children were toddlers. That’s when I realized I could really cook.

Even though my PC career only lasted a couple years, it really gave me confidence to try different recipes. I’ve even been known to make a new recipe the first time for an event with company.

So when I asked my daughter what she’d like to make for dinner last week, she chose chicken/rice/bean wraps. It’s something she’s made before with my help. Granted, it didn’t happen without a lot of ground work on my part; from explaining how to make rice to giving her tips on making sure she gathered all the ingredients before she turned the heat on the pan. I went over the instructions on the computer with her and printed them out.

I am still proud of her. She knows now she is capable of figuring out how to feed herself when she moves out someday. However, if all else fails, she does know how to make tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches.

Gretchen Leigh is a stay-at-home mom who lives in Covington. You can read more of her writing and her daily blog on her website livingwithgleigh.com, on Facebook at “Living with Gleigh.”or follow her on Twitter @livewithgleigh. Her column is available every week at maplevalleyreporter.com under the Lifestyles section.