I had a realization this week: When I come home, my kids want to spend time with me before doing anything else. Elementary, right? For me, though, it was another one of those 'transition' moments.
You see, Christen usually timed dinner so that it was basically ready when I came in the door. I never asked her to do that; she just did. It worked with the kids' daily routine, and it gave her a break from the kids while preparing dinner before my arrival home. She liked to take that time to get dinner ready and have the table set for when I got home.
I (and the army of amazing caretakers that have been helping our family) have essentially kept that routine. Here's the difference: the kids haven't been with one of their parents all day. When I get home, it's time to be with Daddy. I've been trying to have that time with them over dinner, usually at the table. Great idea...under normal circumstances.
Unfortunately, I am still learning just how 'not normal' our circumstances are now. My kids don't want to sit at the table and eat dinner shortly after I get home. Even if they are hungry, what they really want to do is run, play, wrestle, show me art projects, and anything else that comes into their little minds that they can bring me into before sitting down to eat.
After fighting 'The Dinner War' for the last several weeks, I'm going to give this a shot. It'll mean eating a little later than usual. It may even mean starting bedtime slightly later than before (we'll see about that). Hopefully, it will also mean more quality time with my kids - including at the dinner table.
I'll keep you posted...
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