My first encounter with the acronym “KP” was waaaaaay back in 2001. My husband James, then my boyfriend, had written me a letter from Army Basic Training. He was telling me about all the crazy physical requirements and interesting duties he had performed. One of these was called KP Duty or Kitchen Patrol Duty. If my memory serves me right, he enjoyed this duty because it didn’t involve sit ups, push ups or running! LOL. Somewhere in the past ten years of reading parenting books, articles and websites I heard this term used to describe a chore for children involving the kitchen. If I could remember the specific place I heard this I would give them credit, because this genius idea did not originate with me However, I’m going to share with you how this idea has revolutionized my time spent in the kitchen.

The general idea is to assign, your children who are old enough, chores to help you in the kitchen. From this starting point you can go in many different directions, so I’m going to give you my families example first. After that I’ll list some alternative options you could try. Let me address for a minute the comment about children being old enough to help in the kitchen. For each family that’s going to be different. I am NOT suggesting that you have your toddler washing dishes or your preschooler putting away steak knives! Please, use common sense as you employ this idea…if you’re not sure, or if you have “pregnancy brain or nursing brain” LOL, definitely ask a friend before beginning. (Hey I have 5 kids and for 5 years straight I was either pregnant or nursing OR BOTH at the same time, cut me some slack!)  Ok, back on topic My four oldest are 9, 8, 6, and 5. ALL of them are old enough to  help in the kitchen during meal prep and clean up. So here’s how I scheduled my help. Mondays: Naomi 9, Tuesdays: Isaiah 8, Wednesdays: Brandon 6, and Thursdays: Trinity 5. The first Friday of the month Naomi will have it again, second Friday is Isaiah, third Friday is Brandon and fourth Friday is Trinity. Then I just start over. I do realize that some months will have five Fridays and I choose to not be so anal as to worry about that now, ha ha ha. The day they have “KP” as we call it, they help all day for all meals and snacks. ESPECIALLY clean up! This is where the age of your child will come into play…

With the proper training your children will surprise you! Every minute you invest in teaching them how to work safely in the kitchen is a minute you will gain back to use somewhere else. For the younger children your investment will take a little bit longer to show, the older children you will see the investment return almost immediately. Be patient as you begin, you may be excited about this new program, but chances are they won’t! Do not let them off the hook no matter how much they complain or drag out the process. Take this opportunity, even if they’re grumbling, to have one-on-one time with them. For me, this is why I started, the added kitchen help was just icing on the cake. Tell them how neat it is to spend time with them and how much you enjoy their help. I’m going to give you a practical example of how today went so you can fully understand what I’m talking about. First Friday of the new year so Naomi 9, is my helper. In the morning I call her to the kitchen as my KP helper and we begin to prepare breakfast. Today was frozen homemade waffles, which she took out of the freezer and warmed in the toaster, by herself. (I rewarmed in the microwave right before we ate because she thought the numbers on the toaster corresponded to minutes. LOL. Some were still a little chilly!) She set the table and got out all the condiments I asked her to. During breakfast she got any items we discovered missing. When breakfast was over she cleared the table while I began to clean the dishes. When she was finished she began to dry and put away the dishes as I washed them. I talked about what I was doing so she is always learning. At lunchtime she warmed up our leftover homemade pizza in the microwave and served the other 4 kids (she has a servants heart y’all). Not much mess from that lunch so we really didn’t have to clean up. I put dinner in the crockpot, which had she not been in the bath she would have helped me do, before lunch. We were going to have mashed potatoes for dinner so when it was time she peeled and washed the potatoes I had set out and placed them in the pan after I cut them. She added the water as directed and then put the corn in the pan as I asked. Yes there was kernels on the floor, but the dog enjoyed the snack. She set the table, she did forget the forks and cups, but hey I’m not requiring perfection, LOL. We ate and then began clean up. She had been asking me to wash dishes for awhile. I decided tonight was as good a time as any. She did great! I helped her load the dishwasher and only had to send back 3 dishes for re-washing. Essentially we swapped places because I dried and put away as she washed. Voila, clean kitchen when we were done. Clean kitchen = nice, Lifelong Lesson = priceless.

Remember, Naomi is 9 and has been an interested participant before I assigned KP days. Each of my other three children are capable of lots too. On Isaiah’s day this week we prepared a meal for company, which involved a new pork chop recipe with glaze, cake and homemade chocolate mousse. He performed beautifully and because of his help cleaning up, I was done 40 minutes after company left!

The beauty of this duty for large families is in multiplying yourself. That’s what your doing. For example, while they are drying and putting away the dishes I am finishing the counters and stove. While they are helping with prep and setting table I may be folding a load of laundry! (Can I hear an AMEN for the laundry?!) Since I have started I have dealt with the complainer, the quitter, the sulker and the pouter. What I have gained is four children who, at bare minimum, can dry and put away the dishes. AND most importantly a lot of one-on-one quality, teaching time with each of my children.

Alternate ideas:

• Assign a meal to a specific child: Child A does breakfast, B does lunch, C does dinner.
• Just have dinner prep and clean help.
• If you have more than 7 children consider using a two week schedule or doubling up a day or a meal.

There are many ways to modify this to work for your family. Whether you have 1 or 19…prayerfully consider the life lessons you will be teaching your children and the quality time you can have. Besides, your going to be in the kitchen anyway, might as well have some help

Please comment with questions or share your successes with this duty…there’s more to learn when we share!

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