The dinner table is a fun and chaotic place where the family gathers to eat and share their day. When you have younger children, it can often be a place of enormous mess and strain. Have you wondered how to provide value around dinner the dinner table?
Primarily, mothers have been the ones to tend to the children and the cleanup of the messes in days gone by. However, the modern dad pitches in and helps to ease the burden on mom. Here are some ways that dads can help take care of their kids around the dinner table.
1. Help Serve the Meal
How many times does mom barely get enough time to eat because she is getting the plates ready for the rest of the family? Dad can help to serve the children. If they need help with cutting steak or pork chops, then he can also assist with this seemingly time-consuming chore. When everybody is eating and their bellies are filling, there will be less chaos in the serving process.
2. Create a Warm and Inviting Environment
If you were to poll children around America, they would all say that they would prefer to eat in front of the TV or while playing a video game. It’s just as much dad’s responsibility as it is mom’s to make the table a warm and inviting place to congregate. Teaching these principals starts at a young age.
If you’ve spent good money on fancy dining tables from reclaimed wood in Boston, MA, you want to make sure the family gets use from it. Who says the dinner table is only about food? You should teach kids to play games, sit and chat, and learn that this is a spot that is at the center of the heart of the home.
3. Clean Up
Any mother will tell you that cleanup is the hardest part of any meal. Children love to throw food to the dog down below or at their sibling. The floor can often look like someone emptied a trash can when the meal is done. Dad can make sure that peace and order are followed during the dinner process. By keeping up with wiping hands and any spills as they occur, the cleanup won’t be nearly as intense.
4. Be Present
Not every family has the luxury of having dinner together. Work schedules often inhibit eating as a family. However, when dad and mom are both home, an effort should be made to have dinner as a family. There’s something remarkable about setting aside time for each other.
Life is crazy, and people want to eat on the go. However, there is something sacred about having a meal as a family. Even if dinner time gets a bit chaotic, dad can help to ease the burden on mom during this time. With any luck, your children will grow to appreciate and teach their kids the importance of gathering around the table.