Burnt Oatmeal for Dinner

Over the past couple of months, we have started a new thing.  We want the kids to learn to cook and also to clean-up dishes right.  So, rather than having specific dish jobs, we have one child in charge of all the dishes for the week, and one child in charge of cooking dinner for the week.  It rotates between the Alex, Jesikah, and Tessa, and the third week is their week off.  Of course, Eric and I still help a lot, but they are ultimately responsible.

I think it has been a good learning experience.  Previously, I would usually spend about 20 minutes in the kitchen "finishing the job" when they each had finished their responsibilities.  Now, they have to finish it right by wiping counters, cleaning out the sink, and starting the dishwasher.  They are getting better all the time, but some days can be a bit frustrating.  Alex has become so picky about food, that he nearly always complains about dinner.  Now that he is spending the time cooking and then hearing someone complain...it changes the perspective a bit.
Tonight, we didn't have much time to prepare dinner, and Alex was in charge, so he decided he was making oatmeal (his favorite breakfast)! ...Normally, I would have made him think of something else, but we were rushed for time, and I figured I would let him make what he wanted today.  Especially considering that I was in the middle of a project I was making for Christmas that needed to be finished that night.  He put the oatmeal and water in the pan and then left the pan on the stove for quite some time without checking it and this is what happened.  It wasn't long before the entire house smelled like burnt oatmeal.

The oatmeal had a brownish color, and but he insisted it was just burned on the bottom and it would be fine.  I did taste it and it wasn't too bad, but quite a bit heavy on vanilla (probably to mask the taste).  The kids all ate it (even Alex) and didn't complain too much.  Unfortunately, there wasn't enough for Eric and I (darn), so we made due with leftovers or something.

This is the pan after Alex had spent a great deal of time scrubbing.  We even went and bought a new scrubber and let it soak for about 3 days but, still there is a bit that we never got off.  I think it was a good learning experience for him though.