Cold Meals

What is the saying about once you have a kid you should get used to eating your meals cold?

One of the things Nick and I are really proud of is that we try really hard to eat dinner together each night, except for his Taco Ride Wednesdays, and to do so at the table. Growing up my family ALWAYS ate together, at the kitchen table, with no TV and you sat at the table until everyone was done eating*.

This is one of the things Nick and I want to instill in our children as they grow-up. It gives us time as a family, and as the kids grow-up it will be time set aside for all of us to hang out together and discuss our day. It also teaches the kids patience, eating a well balanced meal (sort of), prayer, manners, and the importance of spending time as a family.

Nick and I plan out our dinner menu at the beginning of each week (it helps in making our grocery list), so the nights are planned out for us (located on the white board on the fridge for quick reference.) We make an effort to plan when we eat around Eleanor's schedule, so she can sit with us during meal time. In the 6-months that Ellie has been around I can count on my hand the number of times Nick or I have had a cold meal. A cold meal does happen, but overall usually get to eat warm meals together. Here is a picture of our set up from a number of months ago (it has taken me that long to get this post written). Ellie has since moved up from her bouncy chair to her Bumbo. And given her desire to reach for everything around her (and her high success rate at grabbing said objects), she will probably be moving to her high-chair for meals soon enough.

We hope this tradition continues to be as easy as it has been thus far. Wish us luck!

*Unless you were a little girl being forced to eat seafood casserole that you didn't like. In which case you had to sit at the table by yourself until it was gone- which in some cases was for hours (or felt like hours)!