Please Please Please
May 27, 2008
Do you spend half your mealtimes trying to "civilize" your wild kids? Don't worry; this has been going on for centuries.
In the Middle Ages, Europeans – adults and children alike -- had a much lower standard of what we might call impulse control or manners. They stuck their hands directly into the food dishes, blew their noses in the table cloth, shared dishes, goblets, knives and spoons.
These days, grown ups automatically "know" all the right ways to behave. Only children have to learn.
Manners are tiny morality plays that teach us to understand the feelings of others. Offering food to others, waiting your turn, saying please and thank you mean, I know you are a human being too. You have the same rights, responsibilities and needs that I have. Whatever is here, we can share.
Once I learned that manners are actually about something deep, I didn't feel so bad about being a nag. So thanks for listening to my little lecture!
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.
