I have learned a new secret to compliance and pleasantness at the dinner table. I trust you’ve heard the one about letting kids help plan the menu and cook. This really does work, at least when you can get them to actually do it. Last week we made “Brownie Soup,” which doesn’t actually contain any chocolate or any little girls in uniform. It is a recipe from the Brownie Try-It book. I hooked the children by suggesting we make it. Then I reeled them in by allowing them to help, and most especially by allowing them to use knives. Sharp ones. Sure we ended up with some 1/2-inch pieces of celery and some 6-inch ones, but who cares?
Finally, the big finish: I left my laptop on the dining room table and set up the screensaver option that plays a slideshow of photos randomly selected from your files. Kids can never get enough of seeing pictures of themselves. So use their natural egomania to your advantage, I say. It’s not like reading or watching TV at the table (which I don’t allow), because you are still talking to each other. In fact, we talk more and sit longer because of the photo display, discussing when and where the picture was taken, and so forth.
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Via the Parent Bloggers Network, I had the opportunity to ask Dr. Dean Ornish a question about health and wellness. Dr. Ornish is the founder and president of the non-profit Preventive Medicine Research Institute in Sausalito, California. He advocates comprehensive lifestyle changes as a means of preventing and reversing disease, so I asked him about how to lower our kids’ risk or high blood pressure (there is some history of it in our family). I mentioned that my children are pretty active and eat fairly well, but there is always room for improvement. Thanks to PBN, I received an answer from Dr. Ornish in the form of a personalized video he made after reading this blog. I tried to embed it here but could not–I hope if you click on the link you’ll be able to see it.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh, how cool. Your own personal video.
Yesterday I let my kids prepare a treat for themselves while I cooked our “real” dinner. They mixed soy milk, vanilla ice cream, cinnamon, dried mint, fresh cilantro, bread crumbs and a mashed banana, and then froze the mixture. They’re NOT on to something, in case you were wondering!
The video response was cool! And he liked your site.
Q-ster helps me make jello and stir desserts, but I haven’t had him do much with the actual meals yet. We do look at slideshows of photos all the times, which is fun for memories, even for the little one.
This would work fine, but I don’t even let my husband near the sharp knives. Oh, wait, no. He doesn’t let me near the knives. Smart man.
Video response from Dr. Ornish? NATCH!
Love the pictures on the computer idea. I was doing French cartoons on YouTube … but those darn kids are too savvy and will navigate it themselves if I’m not careful…
My girls all cook and help me cook… we try toeat healthy but there are so many processed foods.
Your kids will actually eat things like celery? Color me impressed!