new coaching experience!

I have been so busy lately that most of the time I don't even know what day of the week it is. So this afternoon when I was flipping through my planner I was not surprised when I realized that I was looking at the wrong week, however I was surprised to see that my first out-patient coaching session is less than 2 weeks away -- it seemed so long ago when I got the email telling me that I had been matched with students who want to learn how to cook!

Now, let me stop here and say that I am in no way a "professional chef", in fact, growing up I was always the kid who had wanted so badly to surprise my family with a culinary delight only to be left with what looked like a science experiment gone horribly wrong (usually involving a burning smell coming from the oven). Thankfully as an adult, I have once again channeled that inner desire to be a chef and have managed to actually uncover that bit of talent that was buried so deeply in my youth. Now I cook all the time. I watch the Food Network as if it is 24 hour cable news -- I love it!

So, back to the students...I'm not sure why, but I was expecting to teach kids who were a bit older how to cook, so you can imagine my surprise when I saw that my 2 students (siblings, a boy and girl) were ages 5 and 7! What does one teach a 5 and 7 year old to cook?!? I mean cooking essentially involves sharp objects and fire and those are not 5 and 7 year old friendly things! At first I was intimidated, I questioned my ability to actually be able to teach kids how to cook. What if I had let my constant time with the likes of Rachel Ray and Paula Deen inflate my confidence? What if after my fist lesson the parents called the CoachArt office in search of a new coach? The scenarios in my head were endless!

So I turned to a faithful friend in my time of doubt: Google! As I typed in search after search there were pages and pages of ideas and kid friendly recipes. What I discovered was that it is more about giving the kids confidence and a little bit of control. It is also about giving them the ability to help their moms and dads with the responsibility of cooking and feeding the family! It allows them to spend that precious time together that most families do not set aside anymore. I was inspired - the possibilities were endless!

I am glad that I got "lost" in my planner today, it gave me the chance to get excited again about my first out-patient coaching experience. I scheduled in some time early next week to go back over all those search results and get my 10 week plan on paper! We'll see how it goes. In the mean time I will keep it up with the Food Network -- who knows, perhaps Rachel Ray will have something that is YUMMO for the kiddies! ---jenn