Toward a More Enjoyable Meal Time: Conversation Starters #1

  by Erik Wolgemuth

I often can’t help myself when it comes to providing perspective to my kids, especially when it comes to cleaning plates of a well-prepared meal. You will finish what’s on your plate. We’re talking about spaghetti here…some people eat baked scrod. Scrod.

During one such “lesson” I was providing to my kids, we discovered something rather fun and engaging. Before I knew it, spaghetti was eaten without complaint and without additional cajoling. We simply just continued the either/or discussion that begin with delicious pasta compared to an odorous juvenile cod.

What would you rather eat, ____ or _____?

What animal do you like the best, ____ or _____?

Would you rather be a ____ or ____?

For additional commentary, I like to drop a “why?” after each answer. Do the same and you’ll soon find yourself discussing the finer points of rhinos, pretzels and construction workers.

If your kids range in ages, these questions can work across the spectrum. It may take your younger participants a time or two before they get the gist of things, but they’ll pick it up. And when they do, you’ll quickly find yourself wrestling between two options you likely wouldn’t have thought to pair (we’ve enjoyed debating the merits of applesauce vs. water and roly polies vs. sloths).

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We’re all about making your dinner table the best place in your house … with a burp meal, for instance. After a fun meal, consider enjoy some of Oliver Jeffers books.

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Picture by Markus Spiske; Used via Creative Commons license.