The One Thing I Always Give My Kids at the Table (It’s Not an iPad!) — Kids at the Table

My daughters are 3 and 5. And while breakfast is usually at the kitchen island and lunch is away at school, we make an effort to sit down to dinner every night. When they were younger they would eat dinner really early — before my husband and I even got home from work (we'd start our meal after they were in bed). But now that my girls can hold out until 6:02 p.m. without self-destructing, we make an effort to all sit down together for dinner every night.

This can be tricky. You have to remember who only eats rice with a spoon and who will throw a fit if their veggies touch their grains. You have to employ your best little-kid conversation techniques and not be disappointed if they wolf down dinner (or don't) in about two minutes and spend the next eight minutes standing up in their chairs belting nursery rhymes. Despite all the expectation management that goes into having a pleasant dinner with little kids, there's one thing I always give my kids at the table: cloth napkins.

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