The family meal

We are encouraged these days to put away the smart phones and any form of screen at the table but after attempting to engage in conversation with the other half for the fourth time over dinner one evening last week, we admitted defeat and the screens were back out on the table.

It wasn’t us yearning to see what amazing weekend someone had had, or our fear that we would miss out on some funny video of a kid/animal doing something or another that led to the handsets reappearing. Nope it was the two little people who had the inability to remain still enough to eat their feckin dinner that drove them back out.

 

Chicken curry was on the menu, a favourite, guaranteed to buy us ten maybe fifteen minutes of peace with the hope that we could have a chat/moan about our day. One child sized cup of water now filled with pieces of chicken and rice later was threatening to put an end to the conversation but we soldiered on.

 

No sooner had I uttered “sorry, go on” to himself, once again attempting to resume our catch up was it swiftly followed by  “B sit down and eat your curry or there will be no custard“!

This was then followed by “Anyway as I was saying”

“A get back out here and finish your dinner! “

“Lads there will be no custard if ye don’t sit down and eat ye’re dinner (second attempt at bribery still not working)”

A peace of sorts arose and mouths were full munching.

 

 

Success!

Grown up conversation, who -hoo!

 

 

Ignoring the strange sounds coming from their direction we continued to chat until the sounds got louder and louder.

Splashing????

The straw that finally broke the camels back/ the conversation that we now had both even forgotten that we were attempting to have, was pools of water all over the table with bits of chicken curry floating in. Said pieces were now dripping down onto the floor after the twins decided to play Frisbee with their dinner plates – thank God for plastic plates!

Expletives may have followed which I am not proud of.

 

So whilst we do our best and sit out at the table in the “dining room” away from the TV, I’m afraid having toddler twins who cannot sit still enough for their food to digest at the moment has led us to putting our catching up with each other back until after the bedtime battles have ceased.

Now if I had resorted to giving in to my earlier hints of bribery (custard or ice-cream are always winners here) there would not have been any issue in us holding an entire conversation with each other!

However we need to hang on to these tactics when faced with a toddler who completely refuses to eat. Don’t mind all those fussy eater books, the quickest way to get a toddler to eat something is to take away the prospect of an ice-cream and you can be guaranteed the plate will be somewhat cleared as a result.

(And before anyone says anything this is not something that is done every-day and yes I totally understand bribing a toddler is not the done thing but for a full toddler belly or ten minutes of conversation with your husband over dinner it is worth it, sometimes J)

 

 

And for the future family meals….

Bring my two out to a restaurant and they will happily sit there for a few hours eating and chatting away (apples don’t fall far from the trees there)

However since eating out every day ain’t going to happen I must go and download Whatsapp now so I can engage in future “conversation “with himself in-between refereeing dinner time.

 

 

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*image from the honesttoddler