Love your food and eating! Series: Post 1 of 3

Well I have done a tonne of different things with my kids over the years to instill responsibility and accountability in them.  Why a tonne?  Well, if you have kids you probably know that while something may work extremely well at first, the glory of it quickly fades!  There are a few things though, that remain strong in our home.  The kids, husband and I expect and look forward to them.  My next few posts will be about these special rituals.

As a family, we have always made a point of sitting down at the table to eat meals together (especially dinner).  About 6 months ago I came across a great book,  The Creative Family:  How to Encourage Imagination and Nurture Family Connections by Amanda Blake Soule, full of great crafts, projects and a few ideas for traditions or rituals.  I am the first to admit that we are not a religious bunch and so have never said "grace" before meals, but the idea of regrouping, centering ourselves and being thankful for the wonderful food that has been lovingly provided and prepared for us is one I grabbed onto.  Here is our pre-dinner ritual:

We all take our seats with our plates served.  We hold hands, physically creating a circle around the table and joining us together.  We take a deep, reflective breath (we added this in the hopes of ridding all the negative energy from the day and preparing us to sit politely and enjoy the meal - it works!). 
Then we say:

Earth we thank for this food,
For rest and home and all things good,
For wind and rain and sun above,
but most of all, for those we LOVE!

Then, beginning with our youngest, we squeeze hands all the way around the circle.  When the squeeze makes its way back to her, she announces, "Let's eat!"

I feel that this ritual has completely changed dinner-time for us.  The deep breath is truly cleansing and everyone is a little more present for the meal.  Do we still have some battles with sitting nicely and eating properly?  Well... yes, sometimes.  But I believe the battles are fewer and farther in between!

How do you prepare to enjoy your food?