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DailyDish - Avoiding the Stigma of the Kids' Table
Filed under: Holidays
Nobody likes the idea of being a second class citizen -- so don't exile your kids on Thanksgiving.
Nobody wants to be stuck at the kids' table on Thanksgiving... unless it's actually the cool place to be. Try dressing it up with extra-special decorations for little ones, perhaps favorite characters like Wall-E or Mickey Mouse. If they don't fall for that, consider moving the table to an unusual location -- the breakfast nook is inherently lesser in stature than a formal dining room, but a patio or sunroom is far more hip than either.
Another option -- how about a picnic, inside on the floor? My mother-in-law has used this one at family gatherings, putting the tweens on a big blanket in the back hallway. They get a cool place to eat as well as the privacy they need to be able to talk about important issues like boys and Hannah Montana and so on.
Just remember, once you've made the kids' table the "in" place to be, leave it to them -- you're stuck at the old people's table.
Nobody wants to be stuck at the kids' table on Thanksgiving... unless it's actually the cool place to be. Try dressing it up with extra-special decorations for little ones, perhaps favorite characters like Wall-E or Mickey Mouse. If they don't fall for that, consider moving the table to an unusual location -- the breakfast nook is inherently lesser in stature than a formal dining room, but a patio or sunroom is far more hip than either.
Another option -- how about a picnic, inside on the floor? My mother-in-law has used this one at family gatherings, putting the tweens on a big blanket in the back hallway. They get a cool place to eat as well as the privacy they need to be able to talk about important issues like boys and Hannah Montana and so on.
Just remember, once you've made the kids' table the "in" place to be, leave it to them -- you're stuck at the old people's table.
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