Lately, our family has slipped into a morning routine where Peter helps make us breakfast. It started a long time ago when I would have Peter help me make coffee by pressing the grind button on the grinder. As he grew older, he wanted to take over more and more of the coffee-making process. Now, he helps measure out the beans, run the grinder, put the grounds into the filter, pour water in the machine, and turn on the coffee machine. He’s also started helping Terri make her usual breakfast omelette. Initially, she had him slice mushrooms with an egg slicer, but now he is also able to crack the eggs into a bowl (without the shells!), add salt and pepper (sometimes too much), and beat them with a fork.
This is all very impressive to us, but last week he demonstrated some extra insight as he helped me load up my newly acquired espresso machine. After he turned the switch on the machine, he said “Where’s the coffee? It’s not coming out?” Since the machine usually takes a minute or so to build up steam I reassured him that it would come eventually. Then he looked at the machine again and said, “It’s not plugged in! There’s no coffee!” Indeed, I had cleaned it earlier and neglected to plug it in again. We don’t let him connect electrical plugs, of course, but I do worry that he will try it on his own some day.
