Oh yeah - playing the mom card

I totally won the game today with an AWESOME mom card.

Lately we've been struggling with getting the boys (mostly Caleb and Benjamin) to eat dinner.  We generally eat around 5:00 or 5:30pm, because I don't like to eat to close to the boys' 7pm bedtime.  But every day when they get home from school at 4pm and have a little snack, they never bother to eat dinner.  And around here, dinner is where I really get to load up on the healthy foods (vegetables).  So by not eating dinner every night, Caleb is basically subsisting on a diet of cereals and breads and the occasional fruit.

So here I am today, thinking about dinner and thinking about how James is working late and won't be home in time for dinner with the family.  And it occurs to me that no matter how often I tell the boys that they have to eat dinner if they have a snack, they still rarely eat much.

Today the kids jumped off the bus and started in with their usual "I'm starving!  What's for snack?"

Ha ha!  I thought.  Gotcha!  "Are you really, really hungry?"  "Sooooo hungry!" they cry in unison.  "Great - because dinner will be ready the second we walk in the door."

Okay - I will say that Caleb broke down in tears that he couldn't have a snack, but it didn't last long.  In the door we came and I served up dinner on the table.  Caleb gave me a bit of a "I'm not hungry now" run-around, but it didn't last long.  I told the boys that they should eat dinner until they are full, and if they are hungry after they can have seconds.  And then, if they clean their plate, there will be a little snack at 6:30, before bedtime.

Yes, I totally won this battle.  And I'll do it again tomorrow night, since James will be out late again.  And I'll do it again and again and again until they get the idea that dinner is important to eat.