Meal times
Meal times are a good time to come together as a family, to sit together, to listen to each other and find out how everyone's day has gone. How many times does your child come out of school saying, when asked, that they have done nothing at school today? What they are really saying is "I don't want to talk about it just now". Meal times are a perfect time to listen to how their day has been and talk about your day as well.
It is not always possible to sit together every day as a family, but do try to at least once or twice a week. When at the table you can model so many life skills such as taking turns, good manners, good listening, to name but a few, your children will watch and learn from you.
Try not to get into the habit of cooking different meals for different members of the family. This happens so frequently with families and it makes life very stressful for you. If your children have different likes and dislikes, try sitting together once a week and working out the menu for the week together, allowing everyone to have their own choice, for all to eat on one day of the week. The rest of the days can be agreed together. Allow your children to help with the cooking, they are more likely to eat their meal if they have helped to prepare it.
How about one day a week, making the meal time a really special event, have a table cloth, flowers in the middle, name places (the children can make these) and any other special things you want on the table. Allow the children to lay the table, you could even have the food in serving bowls so they can dish their own food up. This all sounds like a lot of additional work, but your children will really enjoy the experience. This is what we want mealtimes to be, a happy enjoyable event for all the family. Happy eating!
And finally, our positive thought of the week:
Wishing you a week where each day brings a new reason to smile.
If you have a parenting concern, you can contact Mrs Easty via the school office - admin@burlingtoni.org.uk