serve yourself lunch

After a bit of a rocky morning, when lunchtime rolled around, something needed to be done! I recalled that my mom often has the kids help prepare their own lunch and serve their own plates at her house--and they seem to really like doing so.

Thinking quickly, I filled bowls with healthy, substantial fingerfood items I knew they liked. I laid the spread out across the table; Maddie and Caleb were intrigued. They had to serve a spoonful of each item on their plates first, but then they were able to go back for seconds and thirds as they desired. Caleb served 1 full cup's worth of peas on his plate and ate every last one!It was amazing how something that simple helped change the course of our day and give us all a bit of a reprieve. There are a few reasons, I think, why this lunch worked well: Maddie and Caleb got to...
-serve themselves
-make decisions
-have responsibility
-make choices
-and experiment.
They were also kept busy by 'working' to get their lunch. They had tasks to do. They sat still and happily munched away for 30 minutes. It turned out to be quite a relaxed lunch for all of us...and so I say, Hurray for Serve Yourself Lunch! We'll have to try it again some nutty day.