ometimes I feel like I spend half of my mothering just feeling guilty for the things I'm not doing well or should be doing differently. One of those things has been family dinners. We don't do them. The routine started off that way because Jon almost always got home from work at 7:00 or later, which meant bed time was fast approaching. Combine that with the fact that our kids are the kind who start pant-leg-pulling and "begging" for dinner around 4:00, and you don't have a very easy recipe for family dinner. So, I took the "easy" road and made dinner for the kids at 5:00 and made a separate dinner for Jon and me to eat at 8:00 once the kids were in bed. Terrible, I know. It was just easier this way (easier logistically/schedule-wise, anyway), and hey, then we got to eat our own dinner in peace. But I've always hated it, deep down, because I know the value of eating together around the table every evening. I did it growing up, and I know that's where you reconnect as a family, teach/learn table manners, learn to participate in conversation, etc.Now Jon gets home from work a little earlier most days, and our kids are older and better able to understand why they have to wait. So, starting today, we are having family dinners. I'll give the kids a 4:30ish snack, and then we'll eat dinner as a family. What a novel idea. I can hardly wait! :)
3 comments:
i give the girls a snack of veggies or protein (like chicken) around 4:30, then it doesn't matter so much if they don't eat their dinner when we eat together. It seems to relieve some of my stress of them eating their dinner, which sometimes is the problem. :)
I love it! I know Emma is only 6 months but I try my hardest to at least have her sit in her bouncy seat on the table with us or something. Chris just gets home so late that I have been thinking about the future and how to do it logistically... glad to hear that you guys are figuring it out:).
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