Learning to block out the "noise"

I have a bit of a "writers block." I just couldn't find a topic that was entertaining enough. The entire time I was making dinner, I kept thinking of things to write about. Babywearing? The massive amounts of laundry a family of 6 produces? My addiction to Starbucks? Why we choose to cloth diaper 3 boys?

Nope, I want to tell you about the obssessive additiction my 3rd child has with my kitchen gadgets.
Maybe obession is a mild word for it. My (almost) 2 y.o. DS loves anything he can get his hands on in the kitchen. The blender, the salad spinner, a wooden spoon. You name it, he plays with it. The scary part about it is, he know EXACTLY what to do with each item.

He gets out all sorts of things and spreads them all over the kitchen. He "cooks and bakes" to his hearts desire. And, the best part about his little "problem" is he isn't crying while I make dinner. True, it's only one out of four to not fuss, but I'll take my breaks where I get them. And then I choose to ignore the Texas-sized mess all over my adequate (but rather small) kitchen.

That's a HUGE part of our parenting. Pick your battles. Don't sweat the small stuff. Let the little stuff go. And, for the most part, it works in our favor. At least when we remember to. Parenting is so vauge and fuzzy, it's hard to tell if it's your angelic children or your awesome parenting that produces orderly households. At least in our house, angelic is NOT a word I use in the same sentence with the word children.

So maybe it's our parenting. Life will go on if he pulls out every single pot. (And he does.) My night will still be tolerable if he hides my tongs (unless I really need them!) I can still function as a human being if he takes apart my food processor. (But he does know how to reassemble it.)
I would rather let my 2 y.o. tear apart my kitchen, than plopping him in front of the television. At least while he is "helping" me cook, we are having an opportunity for conversation, and if nothing else, he is learning to work the food processor (without the blades). My dream is that he will become a famous chef one day, or at least learn how to make dinner without a box or a mix.

It is way easier to prepare dinner without him underfoot. But I also frequently cook with the baby strapped to my chest. Trying to get my 2 y.o. to be busy somewhere else or trying to get the baby to relax in the swing, isn't really worth it. I have just learned to watch where I step in the kitchen and to get out 2 mixing spoons. And to cook sidways. For me, learning that compromise has produced happier, less fussy children. Which makes mommy happy, which makes the whole house a nicer place to live in!

So instead of listening to them yell and scream to be near me (which little children seem to ALWAYS want!) I let them. I ignore the mess so I don't have to ignore the crying. And trust me, with 4 little ones, it is much easier to ignore the mess than the noise.