Dinnertime is the time we slow down and nourish our bodies. But, it is more than just the meals that are important to us, it is the conversation – the experience – that we enjoy.
There are no books, no phones, and no television allowed at the dinner table. All we ask is that we hold a conversation, and from time to time, I allow games at the dinner table.
It all started when they were toddlers. I had four little ones, each with different tastes, which meant that each night I had to carefully maneuver through someone’s complaints about the meal I put on the table. The meat was too chewy, the fish was too ‘fishy,’ and vegetables . . . well I struggled to ensure they got their daily fill before filling their bellies with their favorite carbs.
I got creative. Not only in my meal planning, but also in my game playing. A decade later, the kids have grown, but they continue to play these toddler dinner games.
Here, is a description of our dinnertime game-playing, which Addison wrote in her journal a while back.
“We’ve got a family game. We’ve been playing it for a super-long time. It is called, “Who Likes More Food?”
And we find out the answer during dinner.
The big competition is between me and my brother. Both of us love food, and this game is our family’s way of finding out who likes more foods. When our food is on the table, we each try to find a food maybe the other doesn’t like. (Well, usually I like everything – but, I won’t speak for Grayson.) When Mom serves us something, we can usually tell if someone doesn’t like it very much. We then challenge that person: “I’ll bet you that I like (NAME of FOOD) more than you.” The person challenged then must eat that food and convince us all at the table that he/she likes it.
Anyway, the whole family joins in on the fun. The way to find if someone doesn’t like it is by their nose. We know because they’ll flare their nostrils, which is what Grayson does when he tries to lie about liking a food, when he really doesn’t.
What Mom likes about this game is that eventually our plates are clean. But we all like it, especially since it turns into a competition between us all.
There is another game we play to make you eat your veggies: The Carrot Crunch!
It is simple. Carrot stick are on the table, and we each bite into the carrot stick trying to make the biggest crunch sounds. Mom is the judge and calls the winner. We have several rounds of this game at the table. The whole family loves it, and now that we are older we all know that Mom created this game as a way to get us to eat the carrots.
Dinnertime is so fun, especially when we play these silly family games.”
Games or no games, I have always tried to make the table a fun place to be. Something more than a place they we eat and run off to do something else. Instead, I want the dinner table to be a place the creates memories and traditions; a place where we like to sit down together for more than 5 minutes.
I do believe 20 years down the road, when the family gets together, someone will continue our family game, and give us all a good laugh.
