The Importance of Family Meals

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If you don’t want your children eating like they are playing Hungry Hungry Hippos, then you need to have family mealtimes together.

What has one got to do with the other? Well, if your child is always eating alone or in front of the television, then when are they learning manners? Manners like:

• Not talking with their mouth full
• No elbows on the table
• Proper use of utensils
• Proper bite size
• Eating vegetables
• Saying ‘please’, ‘thank you’, and ‘excuse me’
• Not chomping, scraping, or slurping
• Using a napkin
• Polite dinner conversation
• Listening skills
• Not texting at the table
• Sitting up straight
• Serving others
• Passing politely

There are probably more, but you get the idea. Do you think kids are born knowing how to do all this? With a good grasp of manners and etiquette? No! They have to be taught, and it is much easier to teach kids from a young age a little at a time rather than throw it all at them at once when they are older and ‘should know better’.

Do you want your kids to grow up and go out on a dinner date acting like a wild hyena? I’ll tell you what that will get them – a magically vanishing date. Or how about a business luncheon? How does it reflect on their professionalism if they stab their meat or slurp their tea?

Why do we get upset with children who do not understand what seems simple to us? They have never been taught! So, at dinner time put away the cell phones, turn off the television, and sit down at the table. You might be surprised at how much your children still have to learn.

About the Author:

This guest post is contributed by Debra Johnson, blogger and editor of live out nanny.

She welcomes your comments at her email Id: - jdebra84 @ gmail.com.