{"id":430,"date":"2012-01-26T02:22:59","date_gmt":"2012-01-26T07:22:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.positivelyparenting.com\/?p=430"},"modified":"2015-12-04T12:58:28","modified_gmt":"2015-12-04T17:58:28","slug":"seven-way-to-make-dinner-less-miserable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mlparentcoach.com\/new\/routines\/seven-way-to-make-dinner-less-miserable\/","title":{"rendered":"Seven Ways to Make Dinner LESS Miserable"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"large-12 columns entry-content__output non-vc-entry\">Dinner is tough will little kids. \u00a0I know, I have three of them. \u00a0These tips are meant for you to use them however <em>you<\/em> want. \u00a0Use one. \u00a0Use all. \u00a0Whatever works best for your family!<\/p>\n<p>1)\u00a0\u00a0 Recognize that kids don\u2019t typically have much of an appetite for dinner.\u00a0 They have front-loaded their calories (which is good), and are not interested in your meatloaf at 6 PM.\u00a0 It isn\u2019t personal.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>2)\u00a0\u00a0 Have the children help you meal-plan.\u00a0 They can pick a protein, a carbohydrate, and a veggie and create a dinner one night a week, or more!\u00a0 The more invested the child is in the food, the more likely they are to eat it.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>3)\u00a0\u00a0 And speaking of planning, have the children help you <strong>make<\/strong> the dinner.\u00a0 Tearing and washing lettuce, stirring, mashing\u2026these are all tasks children can perform, from even very young ages.\u00a0 The sense of pride a child has when they have contributed works meal-time miracles!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>4)\u00a0\u00a0 Keep the focus on the family and chatting, <strong>not<\/strong> the food.\u00a0 Ask each other interesting questions (if you were a color, which one would you be?\u00a0 If you had to live in one room in the house, which one?\u00a0 Which super-power would you want and why?)\u00a0 Questions like this spur interesting conversations (\u201cwhat did you do in school today?\u201d is <strong>not<\/strong> an interesting question!)<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>5)\u00a0\u00a0 Do not count \u201cbites.\u201d\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.\u00a0 Notice when your child tries something: \u201cI see you tried your peas!\u00a0 Delicious, right?\u201d\u00a0 Encouraging the behavior you want to see will get you further, especially in the long run.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>6)\u00a0\u00a0 Do not offer dessert as a reward for \u201cfinishing dinner.\u201d\u00a0 This makes children sweets-obsessed and turns you into the food police again.\u00a0 A good policy?\u00a0 Dessert is offered Friday and Saturday nights and the children can eat it whenever they want during the meal.\u00a0 Take the power away from the dessert by simply giving it to them early and twice a week.\u00a0 Otherwise, no sweets during the week.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>7)\u00a0\u00a0 Most importantly, remember that dinner is a time for the whole family to come together, share, laugh, and simply enjoy each other.\u00a0 As parents, try not to get mired down in the food choices and number of bites.\u00a0 Stay positive, stay smiling, and truly try to enjoy their company.\u00a0 You will be surprised how quickly the children will follow your lead!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dinner is tough will little kids. \u00a0I know, I have three of them. \u00a0These tips are meant for you to use them however you want. \u00a0Use one. \u00a0Use all. \u00a0Whatever works best for your family! 1)\u00a0\u00a0 Recognize that kids don\u2019t typically have much of an appetite for dinner.\u00a0 They have front-loaded their calories (which is good), and are not interested [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"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":[35],"tags":[266,484,454,277,60],"class_list":["post-430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-routines","tag-eating","tag-family-members","tag-mealtime","tag-misbehavior","tag-nighttime-routine"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Seven Ways to Make Dinner LESS Miserable - 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\/routines\/seven-way-to-make-dinner-less-miserable\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Seven Ways to Make Dinner LESS Miserable - Meghan Leahy Parent Coach\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dinner is tough will little kids. \u00a0I know, I have three of them. \u00a0These tips are meant for you to use them however you want. \u00a0Use one. \u00a0Use all. \u00a0Whatever works best for your family! 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