The Man and I have decided to set some familial goals beginning with dinner time--we want to create happy memories. Our theory is that by doing some fun things some of the undesirable behaviors will melt away in to desirable ones--the daughter will stop complaining about food she doesn't like, the first son will stop whining, and the second son will stop climbing on the table. And we'll all politely sit up to the table, discuss our day, and eat our food.
To start out with we all share the day's highlights and lowpoints. The daughter's highlight was playing with some friends at school, and her lowpoint was when the second son, "jumped on my head."
I had the marked distinction of being the first son's highlight and lowpoint. Wow! the the influence of a mother. His highlight was when I let him watch TV and his lowpoint was when I made him turn it off.
The second son also had a highlight and lowpoint: ice cream. He didn't quite understand the concept, but he does understand food, particularly ice cream.
We also let the children choose one (balanced) meal for the week.
So far, so good--I think it's working, mostly.
4 comments:
I like the idea of letting them pick out a meal. I'll have to remember that. Good luck making happy memories and enjoying pleasant dinners. I look forward to hearing how it goes.
I'm with Tamara. I want to know if this has staying power. : )
that sounds like a good idea. we'll have to try it out in the future.
Of course this is going to have staying power.
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