Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours!
What are we thankful for today?Jen: That Mystery Man made such a great turkey!
Mystery Man: I don't know. (said while holding stomach).
Azael: My Card-Jitsu Card for Club Penguin.
Ephraim: My Card-Jitsu Cards.
Silas: Nothing.
Lorelai: blank stare.
While our meal was delicious and pleasant and I love spending time with our family, I'm embarassed to admit that our kids clearly need to begin weekly manners training. Yikes! I left the table feeling a little horrified to see bones, peas, and other random foods strewn around each child's plate. Two kids used their shirts as napkins multiple times. Ephraim dropped the same bite of potatoes onto his lap 4 times, reloading that same bite onto his spoon with his fingers each time. Lorelai made some type of sculpture with her yams. In the photo below, Ephraim is playing us a rhythmic pattern with his knife and spoon. Notice the bones around his plate and covering his napkin? Can't blame him for needing to use his shirt, right? 
Any advice from the trenches?
Any advice from the trenches? How do you help kids learn manners without making the meal a negative experience?
In any case, now we'll settle in for some R&R - my favorite part of Thanksgiving! :) 
Have a Happy Thanksgiving!
Have a Happy Thanksgiving!
3 comments:
Our kids are capable of just that sort of mess too. I try not to worry about it too terribly much. I waffle back and forth between feeling like I need to teach them manners and wanting dinner to be a postive experience for everyone.
I am after my girls all the time to not use their shirts as napkins! One time I saw Dave use his shirt as a napkin and thought breaking this habit might take awhile! Here's a fun suggestion for helping with manners. Do little after school snacks as "tea parties" or whatever cool name a boy would like. During the tea party or "Royal Prince...blah blah (can't think of a catchy name right now) *pretend play* and *make believe* the outrageously perfect manners of a royal prince (in my case of course we are all princesses) We even use an accent! The think they are just playing around but they pick things up this way. If your "playing" it's easier to say "oh princes don't use their shirt to wipe their faces, the laundry maid will scold them, they may be punished and banished from the court, they might lose the privilege of sugar!! Silly, but it works and the nuttier the accent and more proper the better!!
Ceri, I love love love your idea. I'm going to plan an event, still thinking of the catchy title, but I'll probably do invites, decos, the works. can't wait! ;) THANK YOU!
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