I’ll admit that I’m a stickler for the positive aura at the dining table – but only because I want them to feel comfortable telling us all sorts of things:
“I bought a sweet drink at recess today to treat myself.”
“I failed my spelling test.”
“I got scolded by my Chinese teacher.”
“I was sad I didn’t get into the school team.”
“I’m worried about next week’s maths exam.”
Each family dinner, my children freely confess their uninhibited thoughts and feelings, giving us a glimpse into their lives at school and precious insight into their still-developing personalities and characters.
Instead of my husband and I having to expend an undue amount of effort extracting information from them, for an hour or two each day, all we have to do is listen.
No matter how trivial their chatter may seem to be on the surface, it really does help me to be a better mum.
Their stories give me a much-needed sense of things to look out for in the weeks and months to come. I can prepare myself to help them deal with whatever challenges lie ahead.
This, I hope, will help us all as we head into my oldest son’s teenage years, when the angst level goes up and trust level goes down.
No matter what happens in our household, though, family dinners are here to stay – every day that we can.
Kelly Ang is a mother of five and a freelance writer.
