An Easy Way To Connect With Kids At Dinnertime
What was your favorite part of the day?
This question has become a touchstone in our family. We ask it at dinnertime- whether that dinner is happening at the dining room table or in a halfhazard gathering in the living room, it is a a way to connect and bring people present.
If the adults in the room are just a *wee* bit exhausted and grouchy, it is a way to pull us out of our funk. (How can you stay grouchy when your four year old says his favorite part of the day was when you played a game with him?)
You know, dinner is “supposed to be” this nice connecting point in your day. The truth of the matter is, my husband and I both tend to be run ragged by dinnertime. In fact, frequently he’s not even home yet by the time I’m feeding the kids. I am thankful to have discovered this little ritual to help bring connection even on days when I am just WORN out.
At dinner time tonight ask your kids what their favorite part of the day was. Go around to everyone at the table and find out their answer. Even if they had a crummy day, was their some little bright spot? I hope this brings you a *new* favorite part of your day.
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We do this at our table as well! Great to see others doing it as well:)
I wish my kids would tell me more about her life. She hides too much of what goes on at school. We usually read a lesson at the end of dinner with a story from around the world that has a moral and discuss how we can live our lives in good ways. It makes dinner a great time for us to learn as a family about what we all think about different things.
We do this and my oldest daughter will tell us every detail of her day – we also like to ask “What did you do for someone else today?”
I love this post! We do that here as well, but usually my son just says “I liked all of it”. Haha. We still get him to talk about his day though. My husband likes hearing about what he’s been up to, as he misses out on a lot of the day to day activity. And I like to hear what he says about it in his own words, and how he perceived the day. Thank you for posting such a wonderful topic. Their favorite part being the dinner time togetherness is incredibly sweet, Alissa.
Rachelle- ok, that’s adorable!
Critters and crayons- my oldest always wants to go first and then sits there going, “Hmmm…this is hard. I don’t know…” (Why did you beg to go first then??!!) Then whatever he comes up with, surprise, surprise, most of the time my younger son has the SAME favorite part of the day. The best is when they say, “My favorite part is right now.” Awww.
I do this every day, too- Although, my very articulate and talkative girl with an elephant’s memory always seems to answer with “I don’t know”….that stumps me. haha! My 2 year old son’s answer is usually the same “Pwayin’ wit my toys!!!” 🙂
This is part of our dinner routine, and my 3 year old invariably answers “it’s a big secret!” she can be cagey and not too quick to play along, but we’ll keep on trying.
This is a lovely idea!