Hi lovelies,

One of the most frustrating experiences that you have as a parent is convincing your kids to come and sit at the dinner table to eat dinner. It's not so much a problem with the older kids, but it's generally when you're trying to get the younger ones into a routine as they grow up. The good news is that most kids do grow out of the impulse to jump down from the table every single meal. 

And while you can allow your children to run around the house while they're eating, you still want to teach them some basics of table manners so that when you are eating out as a family, you don't have a problem. When you set up a beautiful dining room with a concrete dining table, place mat, and all of the centerpieces you could think of, you want your children to be able to enjoy that space as much as you do. So let's take a look at some of the ways that you can convince your kids to come and sit at the dinner table every night.

• Get them involved in helping to make the dinner. You might not think that there is a correlation between the cooking dinner and the kids sitting down for it, but there really is. Kids who are having trouble staying at the table and who tend to be overly picky about what they eat should get some sort of control or input over their meals. When you offer them this they are more inclined to come and sit with you at the table because you are doing things in sequence. Firstly they are cooking the meal with you and then they are moving that meal to the table to enjoy it. They'll get into that pattern and have it and you'll enjoy the fact that they'll sit with you. 

• Think about conversation starters. You can have a deck of cards with prompts sitting in the middle of the table so that you can each take a card throughout the meal and start a new conversation. Asking them what their funniest part of their day was, or asking how preschool was is a great way to get them chit chatting about what they've been up to when they've not been in the house. Good conversation will keep the kids engaged.

• Keep it simple. Search for children who struggle to stay seated during meal times. You should think about using the 10 minute rule. Let them know that meal times are times to be spent with family, to be having a conversation and not to be staring at phones or technology. Knowing that there will be a charge to them to get up and play soon. It's often enough for kids to stay sitting still, so use a timer if necessary. They must eat some of their meal and then they can get up to play.

• Make eating food fun. If you serve food family style with dishes along the table and spoons for self-service, you might find kids are happier to sit at the table, serve dinner in fun shapes with fun dipping sauces, and while you can't be fun and creative all the time, it's a nice way to have a family style dinner.