We have a simple daily tradition at our home at dinnertime: Tell us what happened today?
We like a little conversation with our evening meal, it’s a chance for us all to connect and reflect at the end of the day. But we don’t want it to just be TRMom and TRDad doing all the talking.
So we have a time where we go around the table and ask: What happened with your day? Or: What’s the best thing that happened to you today? Or some other variation on the same theme. It gives everyone at the table a chance to share something, or tell us what’s going on.
And we mean everyone. Guests at our home usually find themselves asked the same sorts of questions. We have two young friends who come over a few times a week, and while at first they were hesitant to talk, now they argue over who gets to go first! These conversations give us a chance to learn more about our friends and our children’s friends.
Rather than silent, sullen, or rushed meals- our dinners are a chance to speak your piece, to share an exciting event, or talk about an upcoming event.
This dinner conversation is also a great learning opportunity. When Bluey was younger, much of his grasp of the passage of time came from these conversations. It required him to think about the recent past and upcoming events, and to try and set things in order. For Plum, many dinner conversations start out simply enough but evolve into talks about dealing with school, friends, or life in general- topics many tweens are hesitant to bring up otherwise.
Not every meal is scintillating conversation at our house. Sometimes the kiddoes don’t have much to say. And that’s OK, too. We encourage, but we don’t force, conversing at our meals.
We’ll ask again tomorrow.