Happy Holiday Hostess - Part 3

Challenge:

I’m having another family over, and between them and us I’m not sure if there is going to be enough food.

Besides the obvious – fixing extra food, which is sometimes economically not feasible; I have the perfect solution to this.

When all our kids were little, we enjoyed having folks into our house, but sometimes, I would worry about having enough food to serve. I knew how much food to prepare for my family, but with guests, I never knew exactly.

I worked out a “secret code” with my kids, so that we would be able to communicate about the food at the table.

When the food would first be served and their plates had been prepared, they were to eat all of the food on their plate. (if your children are very small – put less, not more food on their plates. It’s always better for them to ask for more, than for you to have to fuss at them to get them to finish.)

When I had seen that my company had sufficiently eaten, I would first offer the adults at the table one more serving of the main dish. “Mr. Brown, wouldn’t you like another pork chop?” and then I would offer my children some more, “Caleb, would you like another pork chop?” I would do this in turn to each dish at the table. When I had offered my children seconds of a dish, that was their cue that they were allowed to have more. This will eliminate the tension that happens when your kids are asking for seconds, but your guests still have not finished their first helping. This takes attention on your part. I have been known to forget about it, and my kids are sitting waiting for more. But a little eye contact, and I’m reminded of my part of our “code”.

This opens the door for another opportunity to rave over your children for their good behavior. At the next opportunity, when it was just our family, I would comment and praise them for their cooperation. And it’s fun to talk about and see how they enjoy the success of our “secret code”. And how the company “didn’t even notice”.

And realize, parent, if your child has had one serving of each item at the table; they have had enough. Just because they would continue eating, doesn’t mean that they have to. It’s good to learn that they don’t have to get up from the table over-stuffed.