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When Dinner Time Goes Digital

About once a week our family goes out to dinner. I take an excessive amount of pleasure knowing, I don’t have to cook or

clean up after my kids on these nights. The loud volume, limited selection, and overrated chicken tenders are the price I gladly

pay for getting out of the house to share my mealtime misfortunes with the world.

 

On a recent mid-week dinner adventure, I noticed how eerily quiet our section of the restaurant was. I looked around hoping

to see a magical method that keeps kids quiet during mealtime, but was disillusioned to see kids’ dazed gazes, barely blinking in the soft glow of a tablet or a parent’s phone.

 

I confess a part of me fantasized about eating a warm meal or enjoying uninterrupted adult conversation. But the daydream bubble popped with “Daddy, can we play tic-tac-toe?”. My four year- old just recently learned how to play (we’re still working on how to lose gracefully) but before we start our game, the waitress came by for our drink order. My son looks up demanding

“Milk, milk, milk!” My whiplash-dad- stare prompts him to correct himself with a “Milk, please”. My two-year old pulls a crayon out of his mouth to echo “Milk peas”.

 

I review the menu with Luca and he asks the waitress for his cheeseburger using proper manners- this time without my

reminder. While tic-tac-toe consumes half my attention, I get a chance to browse the menu and we start talking about our day.

Luca’s mud-covered pants were a good conversation starter. “Anything cool happen at recess today?”. Our noisy table evolved into a whirlwind of French fries, crayons, spilled milk, and a disproportionate number of used napkins. Before dessert came around, Luca was already doing laps around the table (which Nico finds hilarious), I reminded them about appropriate volume (while being loud myself), and I unsuccessfully tried to erase the evidence of the ketchup flung onto my shirt.

 

While I vaguely recall how excited I was about a dinner out, I am reminded about why we don’t bring devices to sedate our

children. Dinner out is an opportunity for good parenting to happen. We can teach manners, how to order a meal, and how

to behave in public. It’s a chance to practice patience, conversation, and how to deal with boredom– skills many of our kids are severely lacking these days.

 

Parenting advice aside, these painful suppers are a part of what makes us a family. The headache will eventually go away, and

tonight we made another memory. And while I sometimes have trouble seeing into my future, I know that one day my kids

won’t be around for that mid-week dinner out and I will look back at these days with fondness. So next time you’re out with

the kids, try ditching the devices and make your dinners into dazzling disasters.

Frank Emanuele is a proud father of two boys, a special education teacher, and a director of Dad Club London.

 

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