Who says you have to fork over thousands of dollars or travel hundreds of miles to strengthen the parent/child bond?
During the summer months, many moms and dads feel obligated to spend an exorbitant amount of money on fancy vacations in an effort to build a better relationship with their children. However, child psychologists say the best gift you can give your child while he or she is out of school is good old fashion time.
Instead of handing over a wad of cash to your kid and letting him run amuck at the mall while you get some chores done around the house, consider finding a few projects you can work on together. For example, if your kid has been kvetching about how his bedroom is a bore and is begging you to give it a facelift, summer may be the prefect time to renovate. Only, don’t outsource the task; rather, tackle the job together. Take your child with you to the home improvement store to pick out his favorite color of paint, and then allow him to select a few inexpensive pieces that will help keep his room organized. When you get home, sketch out a plan for sprucing up the room, then get busy implementing your new design.
Another simple way to strengthen the parent/child bond this summer is to create a culinary masterpiece in the kitchen. You don’t need Top Chef-like skills to have fun with your child making tasty treats. All you need is a passion for food and a willingness to work together. This recipe for Hamburger Cupcakes is perfect for parents and kids to bake together on a rainy summer day:
Ingredients:
1 box of chocolate cake mix
1 box of yellow cake mix
3/4 cup of shredded coconut
Green food coloring
Red and yellow frosting
Sesame seeds
Pure almond extract
Directions:
Follow the directions on the back of the boxes of the chocolate and yellow cake mix to make one batch each of chocolate and yellow cupcakes. Remove cupcakes from oven and let them cool completely. Next, slice the yellow cupcakes in half, horizontally, and then slice the chocolate cupcakes in half, horizontally. Since the chocolate cupcakes are acting as the hamburger patty, you can slice them as thick as you want. Place them aside and move on to mix 3/4-cup of coconut with 3 drops of green food coloring. This will be your lettuce. To assemble the burger, pipe yellow frosting around the edges of the yellow cupcake to resemble mustard, and then place a piece of the chocolate cupcake on top. Next, pipe red frosting around the edges of the chocolate cupcake to resemble ketchup. Sprinkle the shredded coconut on top of the red frosting. Place another yellow cupcake on top. Finally, brush the top of the yellow cupcake with almond extract, and while the cupcake is still moist, sprinkle sesame seeds on top.
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