by Laura Falin posted in Parenting

Movies and commercials always show happy kids and parents around the table, laughing and joking as they share stories about their days and pass broccoli to each other without even making a face. They say "please" and "thank you." They smile. They take turns speaking.
I hate them.
None of these people look like my people. My people are chaotic. One of them always waits until I announce it's dinnertime to go to the bathroom. One of them always hates whatever I cooked. They argue over who's sitting where and they bicker about who gets to talk first at the table and when I decide to class up the place and let someone light candles, they fight over who gets to do that, too.

The calm before the storm...also, looks like one of the kids will be drinking out of a beer glass. So there's that. It wasn't any easier when they were babies. It felt really strange to insist on family dinners with babies because babies don't care. They don't eat any of the food you make, and they're not very good conversationalists. My husband and I talked to each other, and to the baby...and then we inevitably ran out of things to say while dinner was still going. It was very hard not to turn on the TV or something.
In spite of all this, sitting down to dinner as a family is worth the effort. Here's why:

Manners: When else would I get a chance to teach the kids how to properly hold a fork, or not to talk with their mouths full, or how to manage a ...