Hello My Beautiful Tired Troopers!
Let’s talk family meal time! Well, not every family meal, but special family meals used as a learning and creative opportunity with a responsibility kicker!
Snapshot: We take turns for family dinners letting one family child at a time “be the waiter or waitress” for the night. This includes having somewhat of a say on what is served, helping prepare the meal in some way, setting the table, arranging where family members sit, and finally serving the meal and acting as the waiter the entire duration.
I know some AMAZING people who are COMPLETE A** HOLES to waiters and waitresses and I DONT GET IT! Like, ok they are in the hospitality/service industry, but my friends, IT👏IS👏A👏CHOICE👏. Not to be a servant, but to serve others. Just because they are bringing food you paid for does not give you or anyone the right to be an a** to them. Seriously I’ve NEVER understood this mentality or behavior.
Even my MIL does it and the day when my babies, her grandkids, step up and say “Grandma that isn’t nice, we don’t do that,” I’M GONNA BE SO PROUD I MAY BURST! Because I’ll know that they understand what serve vs servant means AND that they are strong enough to stand up to an authority figure for something they believe is right. AND I CAN’T FREAKING WAIT!!!!!!
This also gives them a huge sense of responsibility. They have to make the final decision of what everyone should eat, (I’m going to provide a few choices for them to choose from initially). So they have to consider, what everyone likes and doesn’t like. They have a hand in the preparation of the food, so they experience the work and love that goes into a dish that they can be proud of! Then, they run dinner! So, they are responsible for setting the table, seating family members in a courteous and thoughtful way, dishing up everyone’s plates and physically serving the plates (younger kids might need help here), and finally before they sit down to partake in the meal themselves, they need to ask, “How does everything look? Can I get anyone anything else?” Then, they get to lead the family prayer and (probably with a reminder from a parent) they need to ask throughout the meal, “So, how is everything tasting? Can I get anyone anything else?” And serve as needed. And I do believe that the family members should be honest about their answers here – if Johnny doesn’t like the mushrooms, maybe say something that they liked about the meal, then, the fact that they aren’t super crazy about mushrooms. Then, the next child who gets to be the waiter should take that feedback into consideration when helping to plan the family meal. Or you can help them use that ingredient to try and transform it into something that is well liked, etc. Creativity being the main goal there 😉.
Have fun with it, maybe let them work a few days on a fun centerpiece to accompany the meal, or a menu to hand out, or place cards. Maybe teach them a “fancy” accent to use while they play the waiter (can you even imagine your child doing a fancy French accent?!), ask them why they chose this specific menu, or why they chose to sit the family in this specific arrangement. Etc… this is 100000000% a learning opportunity, but it needs to be first and foremost FUN! It’s finally a chance for the kid to be in charge and proud of this important responsibility! And a really nice way to get kids excited about all different kinds of food!
And don’t limit it to just immediate family, take little opportunities to open it up to grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins, family friends, etc.! I bet you’ll get some crazy astonished guests and a lot of compliments on how impressive and amazing your kids are!!!
If you feel overwhelmed, start small and work your way up. Shoot, start off with letting them host an imaginary tea party even. The world is literally your oyster here! And an oyster is a great example of what you can aspire to work up to!!! Can you imagine your child deciding on their own to put something like oysters on their dinner menu?! I can’t tell you how excited I am to try this with my babies as they grow up! Such a fun learning activity where they get to be in charge!!!
Looking into the future… I firmly believe everyone should work in the hospitality/service industry at some point in their lives. Especially starting out because IT TEACHES YOU SO MUCH!!! For more info see my blog, Be The Waiter For Real!