Living in a thriving suburb of a metro has its unique shades. On one side of the spectrum are the benefits like better civic facilities, increased awareness, better opportunities, to name a few. The flip side of the coin however is darker due to traffic snarls, waning contact with neighbors and life stuck to the needles of the clock, etc. When I accepted the flip side with a pinch of salt, life became easier. Its another story that it took almost half a year or so for me to wake up to this reality, after relocating from a quieter town!
Reality check helped me come up with the idea of investing time wisely. It also made me creative to find ways to spend quality time with family members.
Now the challenge was to give justice to the varied needs of family members! Ours is a nuclear family with a great and eclectic mix of personalities...
Man of the house has to be on toes and his spread is all over India. After Jwaharlal Nehru's "Discovery Of India", my hubby dear is most eligible to come up with "Discovery Of New India"! Jokes apart, this translates to his presence being limited to either week ends or in case if we are fortunate, then dinner time on week days.
Next one is a teenager! True to his age, he is on a path of self discovery! There is a kid too. She is full of energy and ready to absorb as much knowledge and skills as we can pour! That translates to just one thing.. she is always brimming up with curiosity and obviously... the questions!!!
And the last one is me... holding the fort 24*7, being a mother, counselor, governess, care taker, financial adviser cum planner, blogger and so on and so forth!
With these shades of moods and demands, all I wished was to have a bonding time that will give justice to each and every member of the family and yet be satisfying...Dinner time is the only spot when we all are present, in the present moment... rest of the times, every one is lost in their own worlds...I thought, and rightfully so!
Man of the house has to be on toes and his spread is all over India. After Jwaharlal Nehru's "Discovery Of India", my hubby dear is most eligible to come up with "Discovery Of New India"! Jokes apart, this translates to his presence being limited to either week ends or in case if we are fortunate, then dinner time on week days.
Next one is a teenager! True to his age, he is on a path of self discovery! There is a kid too. She is full of energy and ready to absorb as much knowledge and skills as we can pour! That translates to just one thing.. she is always brimming up with curiosity and obviously... the questions!!!
And the last one is me... holding the fort 24*7, being a mother, counselor, governess, care taker, financial adviser cum planner, blogger and so on and so forth!
With these shades of moods and demands, all I wished was to have a bonding time that will give justice to each and every member of the family and yet be satisfying...Dinner time is the only spot when we all are present, in the present moment... rest of the times, every one is lost in their own worlds...I thought, and rightfully so!
Isn't it a grace of God that family can eat together to stay together!!!
Yeh! one more brownie point scored! Quality time spent over the dinner was my sure bait to make it one of the memorable events of the day! Instead of letting the youngest one be fussy over food, the oldest one to be lost in his thought and the teenager be blabbering all the while...it was a good idea to involve them in some light banter or a discussion of sorts.
There were many ways, by which we could have achieved this. I then started experimenting with them, one idea at time. This time around, I thought of sharing three of them that turned out to be instant hit...
Yeh! one more brownie point scored! Quality time spent over the dinner was my sure bait to make it one of the memorable events of the day! Instead of letting the youngest one be fussy over food, the oldest one to be lost in his thought and the teenager be blabbering all the while...it was a good idea to involve them in some light banter or a discussion of sorts.
There were many ways, by which we could have achieved this. I then started experimenting with them, one idea at time. This time around, I thought of sharing three of them that turned out to be instant hit...
Wise Words
Once the dinner is served and prayers are offered thanking God, every one is supposed to come up with a word. One has to have a good look at the dinner being served for the word suggestion. However one is free to use a word which may not be related to the dinner being served. Once all the four words are available, challenge is to make a sentence using at least one word from the chosen ones. The sentences that are doled out, do turn up to be of great value to kick start further conversations. Sometimes they are funny, some times they are profound or some times just nonsense. Memories are really made when gathered around the table!!
Golden Moments
Not every day is eventful, but sometimes it does turn out to be. And if one scrutinizes the events of the ordinary day, there is always that gem of a moment that had made an impression on the mind. So why not discuss the Golden Moment of the day? This gave each one of us the glimpse of the other's day. It made the children appreciate the fact that their father has to work hard, though he gets to fly in air most of the time and eat at the five star restaurants! It also made us, the adults, to appreciate the fact that the joy is in small things as well. Thanks to the youngest and most innocent soul in the family for that. It also graduated us to the reality that the teenager is far more profound in his thoughts than we had fathomed!
21 Guesses
This game was actually suggested by a friend during one of our kitty outings. In this game, one of the members has to think of a famous personality. The famous personality can be from any walk of life and either dead or alive. Rest of the gang has to ask the meaningful questions that can lead to the personality chosen. All these questions have to be within the limits of 21! And once the personality is revealed, someone or the other usually comes up with some fact or a story associated with the personality. We all have learnt to enjoy the process of decoding the personality through wild guesses... joy is always found along the road and not at the end of the journey, isn't it??
Dinner time now is a much sought after time. Retiring to the roost with a content mind and heart full of warmth is the best thing to put a full stop to the day... a day worth lived!
21 Guesses
This game was actually suggested by a friend during one of our kitty outings. In this game, one of the members has to think of a famous personality. The famous personality can be from any walk of life and either dead or alive. Rest of the gang has to ask the meaningful questions that can lead to the personality chosen. All these questions have to be within the limits of 21! And once the personality is revealed, someone or the other usually comes up with some fact or a story associated with the personality. We all have learnt to enjoy the process of decoding the personality through wild guesses... joy is always found along the road and not at the end of the journey, isn't it??
Dinner time now is a much sought after time. Retiring to the roost with a content mind and heart full of warmth is the best thing to put a full stop to the day... a day worth lived!
-------------By MocktailMommy Anagha
I am writing this article as a part of #MondayMusing hosted by www.everydaygyaan.com
Posted as a part of Grace Moments hosted by www.journeysingrace.com
All images courtesy Pixabay.
I am borrowing both your fantabulous ideas for my dinner table love. Enjoyed your post to the core❤️
ReplyDeleteDont forget to share your experiences of dinner time investments with us Roma. Thanks for dropping by!
ReplyDeleteGolden moments are also our choice for dinner time investment. Loved your suggestions, Anagha !!!
ReplyDeleteVasantha... good to see you visiting us and even better to know that you also have a Golden moments sharing over dinner! Isn't that really a great tool to converge?
ReplyDeleteWe do play 20 questions .But I am borrowing your tips for the word game.Sound slike fun.#MondayMusings
ReplyDeleteThe word game is very engaging and interesting too. Glad that you liked it.
DeleteThanks for visiting and sharing your views!