I just love reading about everyones kids!!! I couldn't pass this topic up I have to post my 2 cents! I am the mommy of three girls ages 4, 2 and 18 months! Yes they are VERY close together and we do not do preschool so they are with me all day. When I am trying to decorate I wait till the baby is sleeping and let the older two watch TV. Here is a good idea that works well for us: Go to the dollar store and get a rubbermaid bin, fill it full of cheap toys, stickers, or colors or whatever they like (my baby is so happy when i give her a box of kleenex to pull out everywhere) this is their special box and they get to play with this stuff only while you are decorating. It is fun for them because they only see these toys while i am decorating and they do not get bored as quickly with them. My only problem is they FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT 
. I need to get them each their own boxes instead of sharing one box. 
even if they had separate boxes...won't they fight because one has one extra sticker or one lost a toy that the other one has saved or one has a green ring but wants the pink ring that the other has?....at least my 2 girls do that!!
I think they would fight about not fighting if they couldn't come up with anything else... 
Oh, I feel your pain there! I just finished two huge cakes due for the same day. I had to totally let the house go, which is hard for a Type A like me to do. I have a 3 yr old boy and a 10 mo. old boy! The 3 yr old is jealous of the baby therefore he takes toys away from him, hits, and pinches him. The baby cries so I have to stop and play referee and discipline if needed! There's laundry that backs up. This weekend was so bad that I had to stop decorating for a bit just so I could wash some clothes so my 3 yr old could have clean underwear. Now that's bad! 
Amy
This is so funny!
I was just thinking today "what does everybody else do with their kids when they are trying to decorate?" I was trying to work on a cake this afternoon and let my 11 month old son get into every cupboard and pull out everything, well I darn near broke my neck on a tupperware bowl I stepped into when I turned around to go and grab something.....as I'm mixing the buttercream icing he is tugging on my pants and almost had them pulled down to my ankles! (I don't have a kitchen aid, just a hand mixer) I was trying to pull them up, he was tryin to pull them down! I'm praying that nobody shows up at my door because they could see in! Besides the mess he created on the floor with everything!! He is a handful! I finally gave him a cookie and he was content because he could walk around and get cookie mess everywhere! I already had one mess to clean up what's another? lol! He was soooo content. I swear I clean my kitchen at least 4 times a day! Can't help but love them!
Bless you all!!!!! I have just send my youngest off to college.....and I am living proof that THIS TOO WILL PASS!!!! My two youngest are boys, and the older constantly tortured the younger......until last year. LOL Now...they're becoming friends. Go figure. When they were all 3 little....I sometimes had days (as a stay at home mom) where we all did sugar cookie decorating together. I bought stuff that we usually didn't have around, and they were free to decorate their allotment of cookies however their little hearts desired. Then...we gave many of their creations away to friends and relatives. This seemed to pacify their creative urges, and kept them out of my hair with I really needed to just DO IT MYSELF. I think the boxes of stuff idea is genious. Hang in there....it really does get better!!!!
wow..........I had posted on another thread the easy bake idea.....I give my daughter a couple of spoons of batter and add a little water ad put it in the microwave for 2 minutes ( out it in tuperware with a vent top) ...then i give her a piping bag with no tip just cut the bottom with icing and sprinkles...she loves it she uses my left over decorations.....she loves it... she is always asking if we can make cookies cakes or candys......
she says that she gonna be a cake and candy maker when she grows up.
i have a 6 month old which sits in his bouncer or in his walker in the kitchen while I am baking and decorating. I made the mistake to put a tiny little bit of frosing on his pacifier when he started complaining (really just a tiny tiny bit, it is just too much sugar for his little body). Now whenever he sees me with my piping bag... he starts complaining... in the hope to get icing LOOOOL.
When my daughter was 2, she was happy with a dab of icing on the finger. Now six months later, daddy has a helper in the kitchen. She LOVES helping daddy cook. She stands on her stool and I hand her the (dry) ingredients to put in. Then I turn it on and tell her what to look for and point things out. Then she runs to mom and excitedly tells her what she made. 
I've been busy working on my house all summer and the cake decorating went on hold for a bit. It's gonna be interesting when I start decorating again in a few weeks!
Joe
p.s. I think it might be me, but when she helps me cook, the food just seems to taste better.
I'm lovin' this!
I always had to wait to decorate until after the girls were in bed, no choice just too much going on! Then when they were still napping twice a day that was time for shower (1st nap) and then baking/decorating (2nd nap) with anything else finshed once again after they went to bed. Now, at 28 months, they are down to an afternoon nap, if I'm lucky, so I definitely have to wait until after bed. They are into tantrums and fighting BIG TIME right now, it's all I can do to keep my sanity! Yep, many nites into 3 or 4 am! Good thing I love the decorating!
My son is almost 16 months now and he is the biggest handful. I was wondering what everyone did with their little children while baking/decorating. Now i see they do what i do which is let them play and destroy the house. 
My son has access to two cabinets (all the rest have lock on them). One has all the tupperware in it and the other one has loud muffin tins to bang around. Between those 2 cabinets he has a blast. I can't even bake when my son is awake, because he is basically attached to me right now. I"m hoping that this super clingy stage (where daddy isn't even good enough) will subside soon so i can at least bake during the day and maybe even frost.
Mel
My kids asre older (two 8 year olds and a 6 year old), but I still have a problem with the kids wanting to get involved. My son is content with just being given some icing, but the girls are not. They tend to whine if I don't give them SOMETHING to do. Usually I let my youngest watch the KA and tell me when she thinks it's fluffy enough.
Debbi
I can sooo relate to this topic! I have twin boys who will be 3 in Dec and a daughter who is almost 14 months old. There is just 20 months difference between them (and yep - the closeness in age between the boys my daughter is on purpose). I also babysit a 3 year old and 5 month old.
My one son has no interest whatsoever, he's happy watching TV or playing with toys. My other son always wants to help. I let him help make cakes (he pours the ingredients in the bowl) and then let him lick the beater while I clean up. My daughter is content to play with plastic bowls and spoons. I try to mix and color icing and also crumb coat if possible while they take a nap. If I'm really lucky I can get my decorating bags filled. Usually though I am stuck decorating after 9pm, once all the kids are in bed. Those are the days my house looks like a tornado went through it!
I love some of the other ideas though. I'll definitely have to give them a try!
My 2+year old daughter is a handful, but has finally gotten to the point where she can entertain herself for a little while. I always have her help me make the cake, and sometimes the icing. She always wants a little taste, too, of whatever I'm making. Now that she's discovered playdough, she loves cutting out shapes with cookie cutters. My mom also just bought her mini kitchen stuff from Ross. It came with a mini loaf pan, heart pan, teddy bear pan, 4 cookie cutters, a rolling pin, pastry wheel, whisk and oven mitt. I have emptied out a drawer for her kitchen stuff, so we'll see how that goes. We're making sugar cookies tomorrow and I will make her a mini cake the next time I have a little leftover batter. Might even let her decorate it herself.
For decorating, though, I usually wait until after bedtime to do it. Sometimes I crumbcoat while she's still awake, though. Lucky me she's addicted to any movie made by Pixar, so she's perfectly happy watching "the Credibles" or Nemo if I have something that I'm really pressed for time on (usually prep work for Wilton class.)
Ali
Cake decorating with children -- isn't it fun!?!? I usually wait until my youngest four (ages 6, 5, 2 and 8 mos) are in bed before trying to get everything out. My 12, 11, and 8 year old daughters LOVE to watch, ask tons of questions, and help mix icing or find certain numbered tips for me. They are also a HUGE CHEERING SECTION as I'm working on a cake! My oldest two (16 and 15 year old boys) poke their heads into the kitchen long enough to check if there are any "cake fillets" or extra icing for grabs.
The only one I really have to worry about the next morning is our 2 year old boy -- he gets into everything and I've found fingerprints in more than one cake!
I have 2 5 year olds, a 3 year old and a 6 month old, usually i can do my baking and frosting making while they're up, but to really decorate, i have to wait til they're asleep!!! if you're doing a lot of cakes, do you have moms day out programs in your area? typically, they're one day a week for a few hours and relatively inexpensive. my daughter really enjoyed it when she went, i think they usually have to be 2, but not potty trained. also, isend my kids to bed at 7-730
my son likes to watch and help.. so i just make him his own little cake to do while im doing mine or even cookies i do the samething for him.. he loves it and then goes to school the next day and tells everyone
For me it's my mom that's always wanting to help. She used to be the one always working in the kitchen, but I took over the oven when I was 11 or 12 (i'm 14 now.) My mom really likes to give me pointers and advice (did you preheat the oven? yes is that batter thick enough? yes did you wash your hands? yes), so i tell her to go watch tv and not worry so much. 
OMG NottawaChelle - I counted 9 kids there. Are you sure you don't have any more? Your avatar should be the old woman who lived in a shoe. My motto is if you have more kids than you have hands, you have too many kids. For me that means 2. You can stretch it to say 4 if you include dad's hands too, but 9?!!?! Girl, you are brave!!! Don't know how you get anything at all done!
Ali
I know one thing she is getting done! LOL
Sorry I couldn't resist!
NEWTODECORATING,
That is so cute...can't stop laughing.
OMG! I'm such an amateur mom! I thought one child was tough. I do have two step-children, but they are older and very good kids. My son is terror though! He's a very demanding child. I couldn't handle nine kids. No way! You are amazing NottawaChelle!
My little Doodles will be 2 in November, and I've learned the hard the way that the best time to start a project is AFTER she's in bed. Her attention span is too short to parlay into an hours worth of work time, so I just wait until she's crashed and then get started.
She's not always going to be this little, or this involved in Mommy, so I'm just riding it out.....
I've enjoyed reading everyone's comments about their little ones!
My 4 year old is my biggest challange but usually some fondant and a few cookie cutters keeps her occupied. My 5 year old boy would zombie out in front of the television forever if I let him so if I really need to get things done I turn it on. Then there is my 7 year old and she helps me out as much as she can usually organizing my tips and colors. But I usually do most stuff at night after bedtime. I think if I had 9 kids I would for sure go insane - my hats off to you NottawaChelle! 
I think the worst part is when the hubby is deployed or just gone TDY - then I seem to get nothing done! The kids seem to need more attention...But I would not give up the army lifestyle for anything! 
Quote by @%username% on %date%
%body%