The parable of the salad

Many of you may know that my youngest, Scooter, considers himself quite the chef.  It is quite  often for that almost 4 year old to go in the kitchen, and start piling ingredients into some kind of container with no rhyme or reason.  Rarely does he make something other than a mess, but it is a passion of his, and one that we would like to help feed.

Today when he and I got home from taking the older kids to school, he decided he wanted to be "Chef Scooter" and make a salad.  He proceeded to take some tomatoes and avocados off the counter and placed them in a bowl.  Took the bowl to the table, told me to get some plates, he went and got a spoon, and wanted to devour his salad.

Now tomatoes and avocados can make a great salad.  But usually we cut them up, and peel and pit the avocados.  Maybe add a few more ingredients, etc.  Well I wanted to let him express his creative side, but I also have those tomatoes and avacados for a taco salad I am planning for dinner tonight.

I suggested to him that we could make something else, like popcorn, or toast.  He said "No.  Salad"  He wanted that salad.  NOW!  I told him, I needed those things for tonight's dinner, and he could help me make the salad then.  Nope, not good enough.

Finally I got him to consider other options.  But still they needed to be his creation.  He wanted cupcake marshmallow pie.  What ever that is.  I asked him how we make it.  He looked around the kitchen, and saw some apples.  "It maybe has some apples." He said.  So I took an apple, and asked him if we needed it cut up.  "Yep." he said.  So I cut the apple and put it in a container.  Then he started suggesting the marshmallows.  We don't have any, so then he decided he needed to look in a cookbook.  I suggested we could add some cinnamon, he was ok with that.  Then while he was looking in  his cookbook, I also added some lemon juice.  He found a picture of a fruit salad in the  cookbook and decided to add some oranges.  So after we peeled the oranges and broke them into slices, he added them to our salad.

Then I pulled out the pomegranate.  This is a fruit he has no memory of eating before.  We only have it during the holiday season.  He thought it was an apple at first, but after I cut it open and showed him how to pull out the seeds, and let him try one, he had found a new favorite fruit.  He continued to eat a quarter of the pomegranate, while I put another quarter in his salad.  Then we put it in the fridge to wait for lunch.

While I was going through this experience with him the Spirit spoke to me.  How often am I like Scooter.  I think I know what I want to do, and I want it now.  I don't want to accept suggestions or help from someone who maybe knows more than I do.  I want to do it my way, even if my way doesn't really work as well.  I may look around and what ever catches my eye is what I think I need at the moment.   But if  I will take the time to look at instructions like Scooters cookbook  (in my case scriptures, teachings of prophets and apostles), and ask for help from someone with experience, I can have a much more successful experience.  I can learn a lot more and have a more positive outcome.