Last night I redirected dinner conversation from farts (hate that word!) to “What was the best part of your day?” I didn’t remind my kids 800 times to sit on their bottoms, put their napkin in their lap, no elbows on the table. DINNER TIME is sacred. Now… but it wasn’t always that way.
My kids need to feel safe in their home. Safe to talk. Safe to have emotions. Safe to eat. Safe to mess up.
What I noticed about meal time: it wasn’t a safe spot. When married, our conversations weren’t that encouraging while we talked about the bad parts of our day. SO. MANY. RULES. Too much pushing to clear their plates cause if I was raised that way, daggum they were going to do the same! I turned out fine!
Except I didn’t. (Disclaimer, my parents are great. I love them. They did their best.)
Where I started last year was the environment in which my kids were being raised with food.
I noticed our dinners were all the rules and felt so much shame! It’s the one time of day, always consistent that we are all four together, and it was miserable. Starting with leaving my phone in another room, then adding in quiet worship music while we were eating, I saw a huge change in their dinner attitude in just a week. Instead of telling my son to wipe his face, don’t use his pants, lean over his plate…. I would just hand him a napkin while saying encouraging things about his schoolwork or whatever great thing I saw in him..
Y’all… I didn’t even have the patience to pray before a meal with them because I just wanted it to end! What a heart change I needed. Prayer time became a fight almost for “I WANNA PRAY! YOU DID LAST NIGHT!!!” so we ended up just all praying before dinner… taking turns thanking God for their food, the day, the company we had the opportunity to eat with. You want to know what those little boogers almost always say now “Thank you, God, for letting Mom (or their sibling, grandparent, whoever brought us food) prepare this meal for us.”
So where are we now with mealtime?
How do you raise non picky eaters? I don’t know for sure, but I know without a doubt that the environment you’re raising your kid in is more important than the ingredients of their meals and the way their body looks.
Check your heart. Model positive talk. Encourage them to meal plan and cook with you. Don’t demonize certain foods you view as bad. Offer choices.