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One of the themes I see on the various internet boards I belong to is that children eat and run. First, whatever happened to manners. We were not allowed to leave the table without permission and unless it was an outright emergency we had to stay until everyone was done eating. Also, we used dinnertime to catch up on the day's activities. When my dad wasn't there, my mom would ask my sister, brother and I how our day was. Did everything go well, any problems? WE COMMUNICATED.

When my dad was home, he told us about his week and how things were in the city with our family and then we all got a chance to catch him up as to what we were doing (school, friends, after school activities). Even as we all got older, we still had to be home for Sunday dinner. It was mandatory. It was family time, my mom always tried to make the meal extra special.

There was always give and take in my family. We all had a voice and our parents always listened to us. They might not have agreed with us, but they always listened to us.

So try to make dinnertime a special time where your children can air their opinions and views, and really listen to them. You might be surprised what you discover about your children.

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