A day in my life

Most of my days are spent with my two year old son and my now 6 month old daughter. Some days my son is at daycare and I'm able to take my daughter to fit4two fitness classes and other days, we are together all day. On those days, like today, we go out to the local recreation centre to the drop-in play group and then come home for snack and to bake. Today, it was blueberry yogurt muffins. My son, Nicholas, loves to help in the kitchen. He will pull up a chair to the counter and stand, ready to "cook". He loves to "dump" and "stir" and lets me know with his "outside" voice when the beeper has gone off and the muffins are ready. It also seems that as soon as we're ready to "cook", my daughter, Claire will decide that she needs my attention and will let me know that she's annoyed with a high-pitched squeal that makes your ears ring. Once I give her a quick snack, it's back to muffin-making and cleaning up. Now, I could just make the muffins when Nicholas is napping and get it done in half the time and half the mess, but Nicholas loves to help and he's learning too. How can I say no when he's standing on the chair, smiling and saying "Mommy, I a lucky boy" No Nicholas, I'm the lucky one.