“Fancy Dinner”
I invented Fancy Dinner when I realized that most of our meals are so rushed and chaotic that we don’t take the time to teach the kids manners!My 7 year old came home from a friend’s the other day, and informed me that it is rude to announce, “Pass the potatoes, please.” Apparently, one must say, “Sarah, please pass the potatoes.”
Well, apparently I’m not Emily Post. Nor do I care to be. But apparently there are some things that the girls aren’t learning by osmosis at our dinner table. So we set up “fancy Dinner” one night a week. We put a tablecloth on the table (surely a rarity in young children’s homes!), cloth napkins, butter (with a butter knife), and wine glasses. oh - and you can’t forget the candles! We have to have three - since each girl needs one of their own to blow out after dinner. Since I’m not a big dessert maker, this is our occasion to have dessert. What I’m actually serving doesn’t seem to make a difference - as long as they get to use wine glasses, napkins, and get dessert. And Daddy and I like the opportunity to teach the girls manners. Of course, dinner still lasts a maximum of10 minutes, but hey, I’m raising children! 
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March 5th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
I love the idea of a tablecloth and candles! We sit down as a family to eat EVERY night (or nearly every night anyway) and one tradition that we’ve had since the kids were little was to play “Best and Worst”; as soon as the last person sits down there is a scramble to be the first to ask (and to choose WHO they ask) “Best and Worst Daddy” Then dh has to tell everyone the best thing that happened to him today and the worst thing that happened to him today. It’s been a great way to catch up with the kids and especially now with the teenagers it’s a great conversation starter!!
Great blog BTW!!