DINING ROOM TABLE DISCUSSIONS: When was the last time you & your children sat down at the dinning room table & had enjoyed meal together, talked to one another with all the devices on silent & put away? Personally, just about every time my children & I eat a meal, we eat together at the dinning room table. One thing I make sure we do on our weekend together is have a family meeting & a “Show & Tell”, after we eat. Usually Friday night. Each one of us has the undivided attention of the others as we share something we experienced, or have, or received over the past week or two. Neither person is interrupted as they share, & each one gets a turn. We also discuss things that may be on each others minds, or hearts. Whether it is something that happened at school, home, church, community, or country. We talk about it with grace, & love. The thing is, as parents, our children are facing a lot. News, gossip, rumors arrive 24/7 by the speed of the Internet. Peer pressure & bullying still occur. Our children should be comfortable in having a voice, we as parents should be wise enough to first listen, seek to understand, & then wise & loving enough to advise, & instruct with love.

DW