Kids and food

Today we had Life cereal, OJ and milk for breakfast. I know, Life isn't organic, but oats are a very hardy crop and usually not knee-deep in pesticides (think of how the hardy Scots lived on oats and barley for hundreds of years without benefit of Monsanto...). I worry most about fruits, especially the thin-skinned ones like strawberries.

For lunch we had poached an organic chicken, and served dices of the chicken, along with petit pois and cocciolini pasta cooked in the chicken broth. Pears were our fruit course, afterwards. The kids loved it. They will eat pasta every day if I serve it!

We color-code the children's plates, cups and utensils. That helps me immeasurably but the children also find security in knowing where they sit and what to expect at mealtime. Food=love=security for kids. The small touches really matter! A pretty table, food attractively displayed and arranged, teaches them subtly that aesthetics matter, and that they are worth the respect these small touches afford.

I haven't thought far enough ahead today to contemplate snack yet. I always give the children choices, and rotate those choices among them so that everyone has some input about our shared meals. Since mealtime probably takes up at least a third of our time together it's a wonderful vehicle for transmitting cultural values such as politeness, cleanliness, respect, and care for the environment, not to mention care for one another.

Since time immemorial, mealtime has been the time for sharing our stories. I hope people will continue to share those stories around the dinnertable, rather than eating on TV trays as I have seen many families do. What a missed opportunity!