For those with a 3 and 5 year old, feel free to steal any of these. Not all of these happen every night, but when it all works, dinnertime is just so much nicer!
*1 hr. before dinner- get down on the floor and play with the kids for a good 20 minutes. Preheat the oven if needed. Really pay attention and try not to think about dinner.
*30 minutes before dinner, put on a tv show that's about that long and tell the kids you need to cook dinner and when the show is over, dinner is on and tv is off.
*Tell Sylvie she does NOT need a big sippy of milk. Two reasons. One, she won't be hungry for dinner. Two, she'll have to pee during dinner. Which is just one more reason to disrupt dinner. If she insists, she gets a very small amount of milk.
*Have the kids set the table. Usually I call out "Who wants to set the table" and someone volunteers. So the silverware is all heaped in the middle, oh well. I let Sylvie stand on a stool at the silverware drawer and she can climb up and down and carry the stuff to the table in as many trips as she wants. Lets me get the last bits of dinner cooked or on the plates or cooled down.
*TV off. Music on. I find I'm a bit less frazzled if there is some nice jazz playing. So I've started using my cable tuner to get good music on in a few seconds.
*Water for dinner. We use a lot of closed-top cups during the day. I am trying to get the kids to pay attention enough not to knock everything over all the time, so a bit of water in a kid-sized sturdy open cup is good. Plus it reminds me to drink water with dinner too. They can get it themselves from the fridge or I get all of ours at once.
*Please and Thanks. We always said "Grace" growing up. But it feels forced. Logan's preschool says a quick singsong poem before snack and it's become habit in our house. "Please and Thank you are words we say, when we eat together every day." I like it. Plus it signals "settle down and time to eat."
*House rules- no running around, no standing on chairs at the table. If Sylvie is fidgety, she's allowed to stand on her stool at the table, but not on the chairs. Some kids get into this habit, it's hard to break! If it's just the kids and myself, dinner is quick, and they need to stick around until we are all mostly done. They ask permission. If it's a meal with Jorge, I let the kids run off and maybe even turn the tv back on while we enjoy our meal for longer.
*Getting the kids to eat. A few tricks. Asking for food off their plate was a good one when they were little. Right now I just kind of remind them "don't forget to try another bite of soup!" I ask them to show me their muscles or how tall they've gotten because they are eating so good. I used to talk to Logan about being a superhero and how they need lots of fuel from food. Sibling rivalry works. "Look Logan, can I give some of your pasta to your sister, you're not eating it. "
*My favorite current trick for eating is making a new "Food Friend." Logan came home with a sticker from school. Apparently he tried a pickle and since he was brave and tried it, he made a new food friend and was rewarded with a sticker. Now, when the kids get all "what's that!%&*" on me, I mention how they might just make a new food friend and get a sticker. This works better for my 5 year old, but usually by default Sylvie wants a sticker so she'll try the food. I guess you could reward yourself with a sticker if you only have one table-food eating child!
*NO dessert. Dessert after dinner is not a regular thing. Treats happen after lunch or in the afternoon. I've had all too many nights where the chocolate or cookies or even jello have the kids bouncing off the walls. So I prefer to serve treats much earlier in the day. Plus, I used to use dessert as an incentive to get the kids to eat and honestly they start asking "is this enough?" and then an hour later, they are hungry again because they did not eat.
*Don't count on being able to clean up or do the dishes right away. For some reason, the time right after dinner is usually super busy doing all the things I promised I would do while brushing them off during the making of dinner. If I just plan to do the dishes and such an hour or more after dinner is over, I'm not frustrated.
So those are my tips. Feel free to use them!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Kristin, Those are great tips. I wish they worked with Mia! Actually, I do play and then put a show on while I cook if I need to, but usually playing suffices. Mia NEVER gets milk until AFTER she eats her meal. Unfortunately getting her to eat is difficult. Over Christmas we had chocolate and we did find ourselves saying "no chocolate if you don't eat dinner". Number one, I don't want to go that route either, and number two it doesn't even work! I have even put her in her crib when she refused to try ANYTHING on her plate (and I'm not talking about gourmet meals). It's very frustrating for me. Tonight for instance, she did not eat any food, did not get any milk, just water. I guess she will be hungry in the morning. She ate fine at breakfast and lunch so I just tell myself she won't starve overnight. (Right?)
I use the "sibling rivalry" trick, too - amazing how effective that is! I really like the "food friend" idea - I think I'm going to try that one.
Great tips!
For open top cups, I've found the glass ones with a really heavy bottom are much better than any plastic ones I've ever found. Jelly-jar glasses also work well & don't tip easily.
We all do a collective "breath" before dinner. It syncs us up a bit & reminds the kids to *calm* before we eat. (at least most of the time haha)
Post a Comment