如何才能與孩子一起愉快用餐?

How to Change Stressful Dinners with Kids into Precious Family Tim

讓用餐時間變成你與孩子的愉快時光

Meal times are one of the cornerstones of your daily routine. They can be the most joyous part of your day or the most dreaded part of your day.

用餐是每天生活的基本要素之一，同時用餐時間既可以成爲一天中最愉悅的時光，也可以成爲一天中最糟糕的時光。

When you have small children it is very important that you be consistent and that they sit down to eat at roughly the same times every day. It's also important that those times are spaced far enough apart so that your kids have an appetite for what's put in front of them, but not so far apart that the run-up to every meal is marked by the kind of bad behaviour and irritability that’s triggered by hunger and low blood sugar levels.

如果你家中有小孩，那麼，每天堅持在固定的時間圍坐在一起吃飯就顯得尤爲重要。有一點值得注意的是：兩次用餐之間要相隔久一點，這樣，孩子在食物面前纔會有食慾。但是，如果兩次用餐之間間隔太久，在餐前的飢餓和低血糖又容易會養成某些壞習慣和引起易怒的情緒。

Meals though, are not just about getting the right amount and type of food into your kids at the right time. They're also occasions when your family can be together sharing news, talking over what everyone's been up to during the day, sharing successes and disappointments as well as just enjoying each other’s company.

用餐絕不併不僅僅是指餵飽小孩子，而應該是全家人可以歡聚一堂，彼此分享見聞、暢談一天中經歷的瑣事、無論是談及成功的還是失望的經歷，只要能享受彼此相伴的樂趣。

My family also uses meal times to share how we helped someone or made someone smile that day.

我的家人就是在吃飯時暢談我們當天是如何助人爲樂，或如何給他人帶了歡樂的。

In many families, meal times are not so enjoyable. Instead, they’re running battles to get kids to eat, behave, or just sit down at the table. How do you turn this scenario around so that mealtimes become one of your favourite times of the day with your family?

在許多家庭中，吃飯的時候並不是非常愉悅。相反，他們追逐着給小孩餵飯，或規規矩矩地圍桌而坐，一言不發。如何扭轉這樣的局面？ 如何使得就餐時間成爲你與家人的愉快時光呢?

The first step is to establish some ground rules. Here are seven rules that can help family dinners turn into precious family time:

第一步，需要建立一些基本的規則。以下的7個規則，能使你擁有一個愉快的家庭用餐時間。
1. Children should wash their hands before they eat.
2. Children need to sit at the table and not run off.
3. TV stays off during meals.
4. Children need to finish chewing before speaking.
5. No one answers the telephone during meals.
6. Children need to eat nicely – no playing with their food.
7. Children need to TRY something – if they don't like it that's fine, but they must TRY it. If they truly try something and really don't like it then they are free to eat the side dishes.
These rules are pretty simple which make it easy for you to reinforce. If your child breaks one of the rules, use this phrase:
1.小孩子要餐前洗手；
2.小孩子要圍桌而坐，不能四處亂跑；
3.就餐時，不要打開電視；
4.小孩子在說話前，要充分咀嚼嘴裏的食物；
5.就餐時，不接電話；
6.小孩子吃飯要規矩，不要玩耍食物；
7.小孩子不要挑食。如果他們不喜歡吃某種食物，沒關係，但是必須要他們先嚐一下味道。如果他們實在是不喜歡，才能去吃一些別的配菜。

這些規則非常簡單，所以實施起來比較容易。如果你的小孩沒有遵守規則，你可以對小孩說：“愛娃（當然，你是稱呼你自己孩子的名字），你必須 （在開口說話前，把嘴巴里面的食物吃完，我們不要滿口食物的說話。”）

The key words here are, “You need to” and “We”. These words teach your rules and values clearly and concisely but they also join you as a family instead of placing blame or belittling. When your child hears, “We” they hear, “Oh, yeah, that’s what my family does” instead of, “I'm bad again”.

這些關鍵詞“你必須”和“我們”，不僅清晰簡明地傳達了規則裏所蘊含的價值。與此同時，使得每個人融入到家庭之中，而不僅僅是責備或貶低。當你的孩子聽到“我們”這個詞，他們聽到的是“哦，原來如此，我的家人是這麼做的。”而不是“我又沒有做對。”

If your child continues to misbehave or break a rule after this reminder then you can use my 4 Step Discipline Technique.

如果提醒之後，小孩繼續調皮搗蛋或者無視規則。那麼，你可以採用我提出的四步自律原則。

A couple of other things to make sure meal time is relaxing:Ease up. Gradually give your baby (child) the opportunity to experience independence because it's what they crave. As soon as your baby can sit upright, without additional support, bring the high chair to the table. Let her feed herself as much as possible – with finger foods to start off she’s big enough, give her a booster seat. Try not to make a 2 1/2 or 3 year old be stuck in a high chair drinking from a bottle or sippy cup – they are beyond this. It's okay though to have a 2 – 2 1/2 year old wear a bib until they can show you they don't need it, but try to allow them to practice being independent. Use a speaking object, if necessary. Sometimes families, larger ones especially, struggle because everyone wants to speak at the same time. Decide as a family on what object could be used to show whose turn it is to talk. It could be the salt shaker or something more special like a shell someone found on a family holiday. Pass this object around to ensure that only the person with it in front of them is speaking. Use these tips and tricks consistently and I guarantee that meal times will become one of your most favourite times of the day!

讓你擁有輕鬆愉快的用餐時光的其它小技巧：

首先要放輕鬆！學會慢慢地給你的小孩提供自己進食的機會。這也是他們所渴望的。一旦你的孩子可以自己坐直，不需要額外的東西支撐時，就給他用兒童高腳椅。讓他們儘可能開始自己用手指拿食物進食。當她足夠大之後，給她用主推座椅。不要試圖把兩歲半或三歲的小孩放在高腳椅中用瓶子或者寶寶吸光杯喝東西，因爲這已經超出他們的能力。可以給兩歲或兩歲半的小孩繫上圍兜，直到他們不在需要爲止，但是要試着讓他們訓練獨立的能力。

其次，如果有需要的話，說話前需要拿到代表具有說話權的快遞物。有時候，家中的長輩感到很困擾。因爲每個人都試圖在同一個時間點來表達想法。作爲家庭中的一員，可以用傳遞物品決定輪到誰開始發言。比如：用鹽瓶或比較特別的物品，像家庭海邊度假時發現的貝殼。通過傳遞這些物品，只有當物品傳遞到你面前是才能發言。

只有你持之以恆的運用這些技巧，我能保證您的用餐時間將成爲你一天中最美好的時刻。