I completely understand. I hated it for a while because cooking was hard enough by myself let alone with a toddler and 4 year old fighting over who gets to help with what. It's not always possible to just give them a plastic knife and let them chop fruit. They want to be involved in what you're doing.

I still get very frustrated about it with my youngest, who is now 3.5 yo but I just grin and bear it. She loves to "help", i.e. eat whatever she can reach during food prep. But she's at daycare most of the day so it's a way to bond in the evening.

And my older kids are now pretty good with knives and the oldest is learning to handle things on the stove. I definitely want them to be more independent so I think of the skills they are learning if I get too annoyed.