Yesterday I talked about eating with your kids as an effective way to have them focus on their food and learn to stay at the table. That said, I also needed to remind myself what we do when kids get down without asking. I have kids that would get down, grab a doll, get back up, get down, go look out the window, get back up, get down, twirl around, get back up…you get the picture. I have become slack again in our training on this. They had it down really well, but I have learned that if you don’t stay on top of it for this intense training time (18 months-4 years is what I call the intense time) it goes away quickly. I need to tighten in the reins again as meal time has digressed. So, I will sit and eat with them. I will also implement our rule of staying at the table unless you asked to be excused. I give a warning when I’m initially training as a reminder. Second offense is the consequence. After a few days of this kind of training, the warning goes away and there’s just the consequence. So, what is the consequence? Meal is over. If you get down, it shows me that meal time is over, and I take the plate away. After meal time, I train my kids to say, “Thank you for the food. Excuse me from the table.” Our friends the Pritchards throw in, “The food was great the chef is beautiful.” After I say they can be excused, they clear their plates to the sink. Hoping we can get back on track here.
We parent so similarly! The rules at our home are very much the same. When our boys are finished eating they say, “Thank you for breakfast, lunch, or dinner(depending on the time of day). May I be excused?” If they have eaten an adequate amount of food they are excused and then they may not disturb anyone else who is still eating at the table or come back to the table. This allows my hubby and I to finish our meal without them coming back to get more food or disrupt us.
I like that they don’t disturb anyone else at the table or come back. It would give my husband and I more time talking and enjoying each other. Thanks for that idea.