Less chaotic family meals

Think about what is making you jump up

When you sit down to eat with your family, are you or is someone else continually jumping up because of things you need that aren’t there? Is the meal unnecessarily chaotic?

Do you have to jump up for napkins, salt, milk, water, a bib, a trivet for a hot dish, serving utensils, matches for the candles, etc.

?

Spend a few moments thinking about what you need at or near the table. Give someone the job of making sure to supply these needed things when the table is set.

You can keep some of it there all the time if that works: if it’s something like napkins (even utensils can go in a caddy on the sideboard). Get the rest before the meal starts if it’s something like milk or a jug of water. A little tray or shallow box keeps little things presentable.

I like to have matches in a holder of some sort*, with a little ceramic or metal container** nearby for spent matches. It’s prettier than leaving them in the box they came in.

*You can cut out the striking strip and tape it to the underside of the lid of a pretty covered dish or metal container, storing the matches inside.

**A stray egg cup works well, or some little bowl. I have an old individual syrup vessel from a restaurant that I keep on the kitchen table for spent matches.

Gunlög without Mamma by Carl Larsson

(When I lived in the city, I had a pram like this and used it inside as well as outside! It was so handy at mealtime!)

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My book on how to live with the Liturgical Year: The Little Oratory

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As with everything here at the SFH, the best thing is for you to take my ideas, coming from my experience of 45 years of marriage and raising seven children, and apply them to your situation with discernment, prudence, and confidence — and a sense of humor!