A long time ago, when my oldest kid, Nick, was a baby (he's a "tween" now and as I write this is angrily stomping around, his long hair flopping, because we woke him up when one of his friends called), I joked that if he wrote a recipe it would be like:

Broccoli Florets with Apple Sauce Coulis

Microwave broccoli florets until tender.

Dip in apple sauce.

Lick apple sauce off floret.

Discard floret.

But time has passed, much water has flowed under the bridge, and now my second-oldest, JJ, is becoming, at age 9, a chef.

He did it for the first time a week ago, made Ms. Daddy and I a delicious beef stew. Easy, one-pot dish. And he took such deep satisfaction in being able to follow a recipe and produce a delicious meal that now he wants to do it every week.

Last night, he made chicken with mushroom sauce. It does Mack's heart good to see him pore with great seriousness over numerous recipe books, trying to find the right dish to cook. Then, the deal is, I get him the ingredients and he makes it.

With our help? Well, only if he hits an absolute brick wall, he reluctantly asks. But he wants to do it all himself and gets extremely sulky when offered any unsolicited advice. "Get out of my kitchen" is his attitude towards interfering busybodies trying to give him un-asked-for hints and tips.

I know how he feels. I feel the same way when people stick their proboscii into my kitchen work. And it's nice to see him plan a project and see it through to its conclusion-- something that, needless to say, will serve him well in adult life.

And this is the big "secret" to getting your kids to do chores, my bloggies. (Last week I wrote how doing chores ensures a child's later success in life.) It's no really secret at all, it's that the deep satisfaction of a job well done trumps all the amusements and entertainments in the world. As the poet Charles Baudelaire observed, "One must work, if only because amusing oneself constantly becomes so tedious after a while."

Something many grownups probably need to be reminded of. Kids feel it as well: the satisfaction of work. Of course, this feeling wears off if you push it and give them TOO many chores (and re: cooking, I, who cook every night otherwise, have to say: "Anything's fun the first 10,000 times you do it"). Then they're like, "Ugg, where's the Wii? I wanna play fake tennis."

But cooking once a week? Sounds about right. J.J. will get a valuable skill out of it, much satisfaction and praise. And I, the family chef, will catch a break one night a week.

Total win-win situation, all around. What about you, bloggies? Got kids of age to hit the kitchen, yet? Why not put them to work?