Setting the Tone
June 2, 2008
How would you like your mealtimes to feel – calm, lively, stimulating, relaxed? Just as you set the table, you can set the tone. If you want your boisterous kids to bring it down a notch, begin with a moment of quiet. If your goal is to help your shy one join in, make sure to give her uninterrupted time.
Some nights are celebrations; some are just a quick check-in. One evening everyone may be in a giddy mood, while another night people are hungry, and just want to dig in. Then there are the times when nothing is going right...
My friend Alice confides: "Sometimes, when everybody sits down with looks "that could kill", I decide it's up to me to say that cliché stuff (It's great to all be together. We are so lucky to be here.") Alice says that, even if she doesn't always believe what she's saying, she finds it gets the gathering off to a more civilized start.
So go ahead. Assume that your family can be a better version of themselves. They might just surprise you.
Mealtimes Matter Video
from Miriam Weinstein
About Miriam
Miriam Weinstein is an award-winning documentary filmmaker. As a journalist, she has won several awards from the New England Press Association. Her work has appeared in Boston Magazine, the Boston Globe magazine, Hope, and ParentSource. A former staff member for North Shore Weeklies and freelancer for Essex County Newspapers, she writes restaurant reviews and food columns as well as features on a wide variety of subjects. She lives in Gloucester, Massachusetts, with her husband and has two grown children.
The Surprising Power of Family Meals
In her book, The Surprising Power of Family Meals, Miriam Weinstein shows how this basic human institution helps nourish and strengthen our families today. You can buy this book from our friends at Smucker's® Online Store.
