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What a Treat! We're Going out to Eat!
Help Your Preschooler Form Proper Social Eating Skills
By April E. Clark
"The family meal is a wonderful opportunity for parents to transfer their life skills to their children," Vankevich says. "Kids can learn conversation skills and how to say 'please' and 'thank you' and they will take that to the table even when their parents aren't there. They should always come to the table with an attitude of thankfulness instead of a right of entitlement. Parents should really stress that to their children."
McNamara, a school psychologist in San Diego, Calif., agrees that Mom and Dad play an important role in teaching preschoolers how to be polite social eaters, especially during more formal meals around the holidays. "I think parents always need to model good etiquette and good dining manners beginning at a very early age," she says. "If parents constantly model these traits day in and day out, their children should develop those habits also. As children get older, especially older elementary-age and preteen, teachers and other relatives probably would have a bit more impact than parents."
Parents not only influence whether or not a young child shows respect at the dinner table, but they also can motivate a child to choose a chicken sandwich and fruit over a greasy cheeseburger and fries. With childhood obesity on the rise, overeating and unhealthy food choices are in the back of many parents' minds.
"I work lunches at my kids' school and I see some of their classmates eat only the snacks out of their lunch boxes and I usually tell them they need to eat at least half of the sandwich their mom made them before they can expect to eat the chips or dessert," Haas says. "It's something you really have to work on because kids will raid the snack cabinet if you let them. We as a family eat a lot of fish and I know that has rubbed off on my boys and even my 3-year-old daughter who even eats salmon. Luckily my boys eat very well and play a lot of sports, so obesity and portion control aren't issues."
