Manners

Ah, family meal time - sort of. During the week Jett eats breakfast with Charlie, lunch with our nanny, and dinner with me. He takes breakfast and lunch in his highchair, but he prefers to eat dinner at the table. I don't mind sitting with him at the table, except the chairs are too small and the table is too short, and there's permanent trail of crumbs leading from the kitchen to the table.

Still, mealtimes are slowly becoming a little less work, except for the fact that they last for so long. Jett and I generally sit at the table together for an hour and a half. After more than an hour of eating dinner tonight I finally cleared away his plate and brought out the ice cream, knowing that he would eat that up quickly and we could get on to playing.

Even though I end up sitting in a cramped toddler seat for 90 minutes every night, at least I don't have to get up out of the chair very often any more. Thankfully he's finally stopped walking away from the table while he's eating and he doesn't slide off of his chair too often any more either. I've started bringing a washcloth to the table because he likes his hands to be clean while he eats now, although this is pretty difficult since he also prefers to eat with his hands. I might not have to get out of the chair at all if I remember to turn on music before I sit down (he usually requests a little dinner music while he eats).

Clean up isn't so bad either. When he has finished eating he wipes down the table and floor and then pushes our kitchen stool into the bathroom so he can play in the water in the bathroom sink - I mean so he can wash his hands.

The most demanding part of the meal? He almost always requests that I place a napkin in his lap - and replace it every time it falls off. I think you can see it in the picture below.