Life comes at you fast these days. Have you noticed how we drink our morning coffee and the next thing we know, we’re tired and crawling into bed?
If we don’t stop to be intentional, we can miss out on some really important moments with our spouse and kids.
There are two things we’ve found helpful in being more present with our kids at dinner time:
- A no-technology rule at meal time.
- A handy set of conversations starters to get the ball rolling.
Today we’re going to show you how we enforce that no-technology rule via our “Parked Phone Station” and share with you a huge list of our favorite family conversation starters.
First up, the no phones rule.
We’ve created a Parked Phone Station on the counter by our kitchen table. It includes charging cords for the different devices and a little caddy to put all the phones and devices. When we sit down to eat, we all make a little stop by the station to dump our technology.
Putting your phone on silent before you leave it at the station will help relieve the anxiety that comes when you hear the ping that tells you something important is happening outside the kitchen table.
Having a solid block of time to focus on each other does wonders for family time.
Kids can feel when their parents are distracted by their phones. They need to have our eye contact and our undivided attention. Also it’s easy for kids to check out and start that addiction to technology. We can help them get into healthy habits of engaging with people instead of our phones.
Sometimes removing technology can feel a little weird though. This is especially true if you have older children that don’t naturally talk a lot.
We’ve found that conversation starters help get everyone talking. It’s just a little intentional question that cannot be answered with a yes or a no. It requires elaboration and may even help us to learn something new about each other.
Here’s a list of our favorites:
6 places to find wonderful (and printable!) conversation starters
IMom has everything from ‘Would you Rathers’ to questions for teens.
Childhood101 created printables that look beautiful on your table.
I love the silly questions from The Family Dinner Project.
Six Sisters’ Stuff gives us 50 conversation starters. That’s a lot of talking!
The Dating Divas has conversation starters that are smart and super cute.
More MPMK Parenting Posts
3 Free Apps I Use With My Kids Every Day
Establishing “Family Jobs” & “Money Jobs” at Home
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Kristin