• May I?: “May I have the water
pitcher, please Dad?”
2
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Get everyone involved in meal
preparation.
Whether a family is making the entire
meal or just a side dish, parents should
involve their children in the work. Let’s
say the family always brings the same
side dish to family get-togethers. A
parent can talk to the kids about how
that tradition started and ask them to
help prepare it.
An easy way to involve children of all
ages is to ask them to set the table. Small
children delight in putting out napkins
and silverware. A parent or older sibling
can give them a short lesson on where
things go, and be prepared to do some
straightening after first-timers get done.
If the holiday meal will involve a big
group at the table, ask kids to create
place cards. If the host or hostess is
using cloth napkins, a quick Internet
search should yield simple craft ideas for
homemade napkin rings. If the meal
is not at the child’s home, the parent
should ask the host or hostess if it will be
OK to bring these items for the table.
The plan here is to get kids invested in
the event so they are not spectators, but
instead participants in the meal.
3
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Level the conversation
playing field.
Sometimes adults, particularly those
without young children, are oblivious
to how their conversation about work
or about past experiences leaves kids
out. Even the best behaved kids will
get fidgety when they have no way of
participating in what is being discussed.
Here’s an idea to get everyone talking:
Before the meal, a parent should
have kids write different, open-ended
questions on small slips of paper. Have
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