Monthly Archives: April 2009

Apr 6Negotiating Dessert with the Kids

Does this sound familiar: "How much more do I have to eat before I can have dessert?" If so, you are not alone. In fact, we started hearing this so often at our table that we decided to stop serving dessert every night. Dessert was becoming such a powerful incentive to eat their "growing food" that our kids were no longer listening to their bodies. Instead of considering how full they were, they were completely focused on the prize at the end. Now, we only offer dessert randomly, as...

Apr 1A Passover Service for the Impatient

I get asked about Passover all the time - both from Jewish people who have a poor memory of what we learned in Sunday School (like me) and non-Jews, alike. When my dad shared this simple Passover explanation with me last night, I nearly fell over laughing - and knew that I had to share it with you all too. Oh, and to clarify a few things: A Passover Seder is the service that we have with our families and friends during our celebratory dinner at Passover. There are two nights of seders, but...

Apr 1Simple Ways to Avoid Fighting About Food

As I was preparing for a talk I was giving to a group of parents a few weeks ago, I asked my friends on Facebook and Twitter what they wanted to know about Family Mealtimes and Power Struggles at the table. As usual, they gave me some excellent ideas. Of course, they couldn't be at the talk themselves, so they have asked me to share what I included in my presentation. This will be the first of several short snippets about Family Mealtimes - hopefully it helps keep the peace at your table. First,...