It has taken us a long time to get Liam sitting and eating at the table. There have been MANY difficult nights when we just wanted to throw in the towel and let the boys run wild at dinner time. Power struggle after power struggle. But now we actually have enjoyable family dinners most nights of the week. It is something that I have worked hard for. (very hard for!) I just keep hearing all the positive things that come out of children growing up with having a sit down family dinner most nights of the week. They do better in school, they are more socially stable, they are healthier eaters...the list goes on and on, so I really felt this was something that was worth all the fights and power struggles, this knowledge was the only thing that keep me working hard at it, even though it is VERY tempting to just give up. Now, our family rules may be lax to some, but they are required to eat one bite of what I made for dinner, and they are not allowed to say they hate it. They can say "its not my favorite". If they are still hungry they can have ham and cheese. Now, Liam will eat a fair amount of dinner with out even resorting to the ham and cheese. (I thank eating lunch at preschool everyday for that!) Finn usually follows along with what his brother does, but I'm sure he will go though his own rebellious stage too, and I am ready, knowing that eventually (maybe even years later) he will also eat what is before him with "cheers and goodwill!" For now enjoy these video's of some happier moments at our family table. The first is Liam taking about healthy food, and the second is Finn growling over his morning cup of "ca-bee" ("coffee" and by coffee I mean a drop of coffee and a lot of milk!)
4 comments:
I know your struggle. We expect family dinners as well and sometimes they are just downright miserable. I like your rule of not being able to say they hate it. That is something we are working on with Meghan--she has started hating everthing I put in front of her--even if she likes it:) Hang in there though--it is really worth it. One thing we do is to have the kids tell us something they learned that day--it can be really simple, but it makes them think a bit more than just "what did you do today?" which always seems to result in "had recess."
Trent still can't sit down at the table. He stands lol. I don't get it. But we have worked hard on eating at the table. I actually have more trouble with Dave. He hates it, but even if we are eating TB or pizza, I make us eat at the table. It has been a long road for us too, but I love it. I think it has helped laycee and logan learn better eating habits becuase Haylee and Trent never ate at the table and they still hate eating a full meal.
Its nice to know I am not alone in my struggles, I kind of thought everyone else had trouble with this, but no one ever talks about it, you know.
And Lexi, sometimes Dom gets so frustrated he gets up and leaves the table! So I guess Dave is not alone either. Training our husbands and our children...sigh.
This coffee thing is so cute, because when Dominic was a little boy, he loved to drink his own cup of tea (90% milk, with a spoonful of honey, and a tablespoon of herb tea).
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