In 2012, I had a lot of trouble writing my next “rules for family dinner”…
Rule 1: If you have kids under 3, don’t bother.
There were also other rules I believed in – food really doesn’t matter, cook within your cooking comfort zone, mashed potatoes save the day, apply broccoli logic, etc. It was something that pissed me off. Whew There was a lot of backlash, as well as from overwhelmed parents. I put all the babies on the dinner table as soon as they could sit in the high chair.Some say. 1 reviewer written by Amazon This method is a surefire way to make a fussy person.
Well guess what? Over ten years later, I still stick to that rule. I’m writing this article from high in an empty nest, but I’ll never forget the stressful early days of coming home from work and trying to cook the lowest common denominator dinner. Everyone liked (impossible) while comforting the witch time baby and her sister. As I wrote in 2012, “I can’t focus on any kind of conversation, and I can’t enjoy what I’ve just put into preparation, let alone savoring the only unplugged moment my family has of the day.” You can’t, in fact, you’re just setting yourself up to fail, which can set off a spiral into a dark place of self-loathing.
Obviously if I’m more with them than as a new parent and enjoy cooking in those situations, or pulling off family dinners for my triplet toddlers without breaking a sweat But I didn’t start until my youngest was 3. For 15 years, I had a completely imperfect family dinner. books about themThe point, as always, is to do what you think is right for you. And the idea that if you don’t do it, you’re doomed, the door closes, and the damage is done!? (Eight is too late for her to start playing soccer. When she was 5 years old she didn’t leave the housework and she doesn’t know the responsibility. She will never catch up in mathematics.) These are not the baby Boston Terriers we raise.
P.S. 8 ways to get kids to eat vegetables, how to get them to talk at dinner, and the dark secrets of lazy parents.
(Photo by Melissa Millis Photography/Stocksey.)
