Should grannies be the heart of the house again?

[1borneveryminute]

In Italy (and generally southern Europe), grannies are the heart of the house. When mummies are at work, they are often the ones looking after the children. They cook with children, something that working mums often don't have time to do, and these kids get to see them cook old recipes and learn by doing things together. I'm a working mum and bad cook, I blame it on my mum, who was (allegedly) a bad cook too. And she's not here anyway to look after my kids when im at work. How do I then break the vicious circle? How is my child going to learn how to cook the best French recipes (I'm French), and transfer our culinarily heritage to the next generation?

There sounds like a whole load of stereotypes and issues in one post.

You cook with your children when you are with them. Pretty straightforward tbh - at least two days a week you can do lunch and dinner together if you wish

Err I work FT and I cook with my kids

Why nt you and your children choose a recipe per weekend and practise together?

Weekends, evenings, over the school holidays?

Well, my mum always worked but then she always cooked too, and taught us all to cook before we left home.

She still works, so couldn't be here to help me with the DC even if she wanted to (which she wouldn't).

I think it isn't hard to teach a few basic recipes/techniques which will equip a child with the confidence to experiment for themselves as they grow up. Let's face it, the time when they are spending lots of time at home is when they are preschooles, and they're hardly going to be absorbing your lessons on making a perfect roux or whatever, are they?

My gran can't cook! Has never been able to - she used to get her mother to cook an extra steak pie and then run up and collect it and put it in her own oven for when my grandad got home from the shipyards!

My mum can cook but never taught me anything because she didn't interact with us. I don't get on that well with her.

Grannies in the house? Only by invitation and not for longer than a weekend!

Send your child to cookery classes, or cook with them on the weekend.

What do you eat in the evenings? Surely you must cook something?

If you can read then you can cook, if you want to. My mother is an awful cook, I am ace, because I chose to teach myself. I never had a granny, my dcs have 3, 2 of whom are good cooks but are both of the chase dcs out the kitchen with a broom school of child rearing.

my mum is a great cook - she taught me and my brother to cook when we were quite young -partly because she worked - we cooked one day a week - both my and brother a good cooks now. I cook with my kids a bit - quite young yet and my mum does too - she does look after them a bit as well but in her house.. get some recipie book and practise

Which Granny - my DM or my MIL? What about the grandad's?

Are you a researcher for fat greedy italians op?

We were watching that, it is very italian (dh has italian family) but i cook with my dcs and my dm/mil look after ds1 a day each a week (school in sept) they dont cook with him, i do.

Mmm smells of eau du journo in here.

Hasnt Italian Law introduced a fine for interfering "Mamas" trying to take over DIL's houses?

So many 'no's.

My Mum lives with us, I work FT but she can't cope with cooking for 7 people so I do it anyway .

I do find lots of time to cook with them though - we like baking cakes on the weekend....

Errrhmmm, if you are looking at this as a solution to your own cooking problems, what are you going to do in the next generation when you are the granny? Wouldn't you be better off learning to cook now?

Surely even in Italy working mothers have to grow up sooner or later and become the older generation?