One of the themes I see on the various internet boards I belong
to is that children eat and run. First, whatever happened to
manners. We were not allowed to leave the table without
permission and unless it was an outright emergency we had to
stay until everyone was done eating. Also, we used dinnertime to
catch up on the day’s activities. When my dad wasn’t there, my
mom would ask my sister, brother and I how our day was. Did
everything go well, any problems? WE COMMUNICATED.
When my dad was home, he told us about his week and how things
were in the city with our family and then we all got a chance to
catch him up as to what we were doing (school, friends, after
school activities). Even as we all got older, we still had to be
home for Sunday dinner. It was mandatory. It was family time, my
mom always tried to make the meal extra special.
There was always give and take in my family. We all had a voice
and our parents always listened to us. They might not have
agreed with us, but they always listened to us.
So try to make dinnertime a special time where your children can
air their opinions and views, and really listen to them. You
might be surprised what you discover about your children.
Copyright 2005, DeFiore Enterprises
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