October 4, 2004 - Monday
I have come to acknowledge that it will be a long, slow, and probably painful process to get the kids to sit still and act pleasantly at the table. We've tried to instill good manners and I think that we've done pretty well. But, Harry and Jeremy are just kids. They are silly. They fidget. They laugh. They make noises. They are often annoying. There mother and I have gin and tonics with dinner more than we used to and that sometimes helps. But it's not the numbing from the booze that helps, it's more the silliness and that's not a bad lesson for us. It seems to me that the boys, while being annoying silly, are really only conversing in the only way they know how. And, that's really the right kind of behavior for the table if you get right down to it. We just need to see communication from their point of view and maybe that's where the booze helps a little. Yes, we do greatly restrict silly noises at the table, try to limit the fidgeting (or at least doing it with their forks and spoons), and we do try to teach them not to interrupt us when we, heaven forbid, stop paying attention to them and deem to have a conversation amongst ourselves. But, more importantly, we try to inject words into their silliness so at least it's a legitimate, if childish conversation going on. Of course, that's often a mindless string of "why did the cat cross the road? Why did the squirrel cross the road? Why did the plate cross the road? Why did the spaghetti cross the road? Why did the guitar cross the road? Why did the house the road? Why did the road cross the road?" and on and on. But at least they're using words and having pleasant dinner conversation. Right?


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