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yabberu

Table manners :-)

yabber
12 years ago

Just read about the food issue and felt like sharing something that happened over the weekend. Also to do with having dinner, but this is about table manners :-)

I think the following rules are managable:

-Eat with mouth closed

-Sit straight

-Have both arms on table (as opposed to hanging forward into plate with one arm under the table)

FDH basically agrees, BUT suffers from guilt parenting and therefore decides not to worry about table manners. His argument is: We have bigger fish to fry. Let's try and have a good time when kids are with us. My argument is: I agree there are bigger problems, but it does not mean that table manners don't matter. They are not hard to follow for a 13 and a 15yr old.

The kids know this is one of the few things we don't see eye to eye on, so they make the most of it. For months now I haven't said anything, after all they're his kids and if he doesn't mind..oh well.

But I hate it, because I go through the trouble of cooking those meals, and they know damn well that they're pushing my buttons when they hang in their plate, drop cutlery, flick food (supposedly accidentally..). I even clean the walls once a week it's that bad!! And there's always the sly look from the corner of their eye to see if they are getting to me yet? FDH choses to ignore it all away, and I have done the same for a long time, but enough is enough.

Their manners have been getting progressively worse, I reckon that's because they are trying to get a reaction, so they have to step it up because I haven't been biting. But I have had enough now, it's getting beyond ridiculous. It's a powertrip, so I guess I'm going to engage again.

So I wonder what you guys think of my new rule, to be applied next time the kids stay with us:

I go through the trouble of cooking a nice meal, they'll have to bother with table manners. They will get the choice before we eat. Don't want to eat like a civilised person? Fine by me, then they can have toast, and nothing else.

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