{"id":1281,"date":"2014-06-08T14:26:34","date_gmt":"2014-06-08T18:26:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.positivelyparenting.com\/?p=1281"},"modified":"2015-12-04T12:48:24","modified_gmt":"2015-12-04T17:48:24","slug":"how-improve-the-dinnertime-hour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mlparentcoach.com\/new\/parenting\/how-improve-the-dinnertime-hour\/","title":{"rendered":"How Improve the Dinnertime Hour"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Family-making-dinner\"<\/a>A chief complaint of parents with small children? “Dinner is a mess! The kids are yelling and no one is eating…it is an awful way to end the day!”<\/p>\n

While 6 PM is often a tough hour for many small children, there\u00a0are\u00a0<\/strong>some\u00a0easy steps every parent can take to have dinner go from frenzied to fun.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

1)\u00a0Recognize that kids don\u2019t typically have much of an appetite for dinner.<\/strong>\u00a0They have front-loaded their calories (which is good), and are not interested in your meatloaf at 6 PM. It isn\u2019t personal.\u00a0The less personally you take the misbehavior, the more calm you will be as a parent.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2)\u00a0Have the children help you meal-plan.<\/strong>\u00a0They can pick a protein, a carbohydrate and a veggie and create a dinner one night a week, or more! The more invested the child is in the food, the more likely they are to eat it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

3) And speaking of planning, have the children help you make the dinner.\u00a0<\/strong>Tearing and washing lettuce, stirring, mashing\u2026these are all tasks children can perform, from even very young ages. The sense of pride a child has when they have contributed works meal-time miracles!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

4) Keep the focus on the family and chatting, not the food.\u00a0<\/strong>Ask each other interesting questions (“If you were a color, which one would you be?” or “If you had to live in one room in the house, which one?” or “Which super-power would you want and why?”) Questions like this spur interesting conversations (\u201cWhat did you do in school today?\u201d is\u00a0not<\/strong>\u00a0an interesting question!)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

5)\u00a0Do not count \u201cbites.\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0 \u201cThree more bites of peas,\u201d is food-policing and, unless your child has medical issues, this is not a way to spend a meal. Notice when your child tries something: \u201cI see you tried your peas!\u00a0 Delicious, right?\u201d Encouraging the behavior you want to see will get you further, especially in the long run.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

6)\u00a0Do not offer dessert as a reward for \u201cfinishing dinner.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0This makes children sweets-obsessed and turns you into the food police again. A good policy? Dessert is offered Friday and Saturday nights and the children can eat it whenever they want during the meal. Take the power away from the dessert by simply giving it to them early and twice a week. Otherwise, no sweets during the week.<\/p>\n

\"Dad-son-eating\"<\/a><\/p>\n

7) Most importantly, remember that dinner is a time for the whole family to come together<\/strong>, share, laugh and simply enjoy each other. As parents, try not to get mired down in the food choices and number of bites. Stay positive, stay smiling and truly try to enjoy their company. You will be surprised how quickly the children will follow your lead!<\/p>\n

Photo Sources: Thinkstock\/iStockphoto (upper right) and Thinkstock\/Photodisc (bottom)<\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A chief complaint of parents with small children? “Dinner is a mess! The kids are yelling and no one is eating…it is an awful way to end the day!” While 6 PM is often a tough hour for many small children, there\u00a0are\u00a0some\u00a0easy steps every parent can take to have dinner go from frenzied to fun.   1)\u00a0Recognize that kids don\u2019t […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-parenting"],"yoast_head":"\nHow Improve the Dinnertime Hour - Meghan Leahy Parent Coach<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/mlparentcoach.com\/new\/parenting\/how-improve-the-dinnertime-hour\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Improve the Dinnertime Hour - Meghan Leahy Parent Coach\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A chief complaint of parents with small children? “Dinner is a mess! 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