So my husband has class on Mondays nights and I'm home alone with my son. Normally this is no big deal, but last night I had to prepare for a cake class that is this evening. So I had to make 2 cakes, a double batch of SMBC, and a double batch of MMF. I realize now that I should have just bought it all from the store.

Well, I don't know how some of you guys bake and decorate with a toddler. He was in to EVERYTHING! He's tall enough that he can reach the counters, so it's near impossible to get a cake out of his reach. Usually I make my husband take him downstairs, but last night that just wasn't possible. I really wish I had a bigger kitchen and MUCH higher counters!

Duct tape, ceiling fan LOLOL

Mike

which is why i can't get anything done except during nap time and bed time

Really sturdy baby gates!!!!!I have a 2 year old and an 8 month old and give them some toys and they watch behind the bars Or wait util they go to bed,I have had many 3 am bedtimes.Or like Mike said duct tape and cieling fan

I feel your pain.

My 4 yr old wants to "help" all the time too. He brings his stool into the kitchen and just jumps up right next to wherever I am. I try to do everything after he is in bed, but it doesn't always work out. Lately, I've given him a piping bag with a little bit of frosting in it so that he can decorate cupcakes.

Next time maybe you could get someone to come over and watch him for you while you bake?

LOL, I completely understand! My little boy (2 yrs old) is always getting into everything and now my little girl (1 yr old) has started joining in! I have to do most of my decorating late at night. I find it a little easier to get the baking and mixing done when they are awake, but the decorating is near impossible. They can both climb on anything and have amazing reaches. They have taken off with my icing more than once.

Wow, I make all my cakes while my husband is at work and my 2 year old is with me. He goes and plays with his toys and never bothers me unless he needs something to eat! Good luck though!

I gate off my kitchen, and also my stairs...my 2 year old loves to get into things so if I do that, he has free reign of like three rooms that are relatively safe for him to be in (my 4 year old will usually report to me if he starts getting into anything too bad!) And he watches tv and plays with his brother in general.

I don't do the heavy duty decorating when its just me and my awake kids usually...but I can definitely bake....or make icing and fill and crumbcoat cakes. Then I decorate during naptime or in the evening when my hub is home.

I'd say start young with the rules... my kids knew this phrase from the moment they started walking around 'don't touch mommy's stuff' that goes for my computer, any of my cake stuff, make-up, hairspray, nail polish, etc. I could go on and on! They knew not to mess around in the kitchen before I even started doing cakes because I never let them near the stove or where I was prepping, I was too paranoid they'd get burned or get a knife, etc. My sister dumped a pan on herself years ago when she was little so it's always been a major fear of mine and now my kids are 6, 4 & 2 and they always go play in the living room while I'm in the kitchen or I set them up with playdoh or whatever at the kitchen table while I'm making dinner. Nowadays, I do most of my baking at a commercial kitchen but whenever I do bake anything at home, they just know not to mess around while I'm 'working' as I call it. So I would just start setting rules for him, set him up with an activity before you start and set rules for him. If he comes in looking for something to do, tell him you're in the middle of making of cake and to wait a few minutes until you get to a spot where you can take a break.

I let my daughter help. She can pour in ingredients and crack eggs. She loves to watch the Kitchen-Aid "go by itself".
Whenever I am working with fondant, I give her her own little ball to "knead" (squeeze) and play with. Sometimes I give her a toothpick and a color and color fondant with her.
I also often make a cupcake or small cake with a bit of the batter. That way she can "decorate" her own cake with a bit of buttercream while Mommy ices her cake.
For me, it is a good way to spend time with her, as she can always be right beside me working on the same thing as me.
She is 3 1/2 years old now, and has been helping me for almost a year. Amazingly enough, she can ice a cake pretty darn smooth, and is very good at cutting out shapes from fondant. It's like playing with play-doh for her.
I guess my point is to try to find something he can help with or do with you (even if his part is kept completely separate) and it will make him feel like he is doing something special, and it's a great bonding time, and a chance for him to learn. It will slow you down in the beginning, but probably not anymore than stopping every two minutes to chase him down.

My Dept of Ag rules actually say I'm not allowed to have kids in the kitchen with me while I bake for customers.

Kinda nice...can tell the kids "Sorry, the government says NO." haha

I have a 2 yr. old and a 4 yr. old. I learned to do things during nap time and after bedtime. My 2 yr. old wants to eat everything and the 4 yr. old wants to "HELP" me. I get to bed earlier and accomplish more now by waiting til they're asleep than I did when I tried to do things while they were up running through and around my legs. lol

I bake and mix icing while they're awake and wait until they're asleep before I start decorating. I need to focus my attention on what i'm doing and a 2.5 year old and 8 month old don't help with that!

I let my daughter "help" as well. I give her a bowl, a little flour, some sprinles and stuff and she thinks shes baking too. Shes going to be 2 in april. It keeps her occupied, but it can get a little messy!

my 3yr old daughter's idea of helping is eating the cake mix and the fondant! so she has her own bowl and roller to do with what she wants and she always has to sit on the bunker! when younger she couldnt understand why she couldnt eat the cake as soon as it was decorated and would try to pick bits of the fondant off! luckily for me the cakes i make are only for family

My motto is if you can't beat em, join em. When I baked at home, I let my daughter have her own cookie dough, fondant or whatever I was working with and she would do her own thing. She loved it. Now at 5 years old, she is my biggest critic, pointing out my mistakes and proclaiming to the world (usually at a wedding) that she doesn't like fondant.

Well, I have 2 and 3 year old and they love to help me. Rather than shoo them away (which never works anyway), I chore them up They "help" with things they can't mess up with, like holding eggs until it's time to put them into batter, take dirty cups into sink, hold spatula (no licking, lol ) or stuff like that. They really love to be part of process, makes them feel important and they even become patient, unlike with other stuff. Before they do anything, they ask me if it's time already and when I say no, they just wait. You should see them when I sayk, it's time to pour milk into bowl, they feel like VIP. Baking and frosting is doable with them around, when I decorate, I do it when they sleep. When I use fondant, they get their own little batches and they both have a little roller and just love to play with it. I can go on and on and on.... It's fun and I believe that after some time, when they get older, they'll really start to help

my 2 year old loves watching the mixer go... and the other day when I had my back turned she stuck her whole hand into chocolate cake batter!!!!

I only bake as a hobby, but that usually emcompasses several hours both days of the weekend.

I give my 22 mo old some fondant scraps (anything nearly dried out), a couple of cookie cutters and a small rolling pin. She will roll that fondant out over and over. She loves doing everything mommy does, so I gave up on trying to keep her out of it. I just give her a workspace and she will stay busy with my fondant scraps for hours.

I woke up one morning after having a nightmare that my son (3 at the time) was going to stick his finger into the cake ..........I got up in the middle of the night and put it in the fridge (to protect it)...............wouldn't you guess? woke up the next morning, opened the fridge to assure myself it was ok..............HE WAS IN THE FRIDGE WITH THE CAKE IN HIS LAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

needless to say I had to remake the cake and it was a surprise for the recipient so it was a gift and there was no time crunch but boy was I MAD!!!

Now Ilaugh about it.......he's 7 now and could care less about the cakes all over the kitchen all the time now. My 6 yr. old DD has never wanted to "touch" the cakes, only see them!!! He'll learn!! throw a little ball of fondant at him it'll keep him gnawing for a bit and give you time to do what you need to LOL

since i'm selling to customers, i don't allow my 3 year old to help with those cakes...you never know what could potentially get in there (hair, nail, snot you name it).

if i happen to be baking for fun, then she's allowed to help in whatever way she wishes!

sometimes i do need to get stuff done when both girls are awake, so i give them a project...away from where i'm baking. my 11 month old still takes 2 good naps a day, and i can mix, bake, stack, and even do some decorating then! my 3 year old is amazing and will pretty much do whatever i ask her to do.

saying all that, sometimes it just depends on the day

Fondarific got started in a preschool. The owner wanted to make something that was safe to play with and eat! Give them a ball of fondant and some cutters and let them create a way! My kids are older, my daughter is 9 and I brought her and her friend to a cake show. We have a booth, so I am always busy. I gave her the SugarVeil applicator and she just shows people how to use SugarVeil. When she got board with that, she went ot the Fondant booth, got some fondant and played. The best was at the last Charlotte show when Norman Davis, who left his girls at home, was terribly home sick for them. He would come over during his breaks and play with the girls with their fondant. It was the absolute sweetest thing in the world to watch and provided great memories for the girls.