Every night, without exception, I return home from a long day of work and am greeted with these three words….”what’s for dinner?”

Even though our society has become much more progressive and women are not limited to the Barbara Bilingsly version of meatloaf night, I think, at least in my neighborhood, that the responsibility of the evening meal still falls squarely on the mom species.   I have started to accept that fate – but not in the way you may expect.  Yes, I will accept responsibility for the planning of the evening meal – but I’m not going to allow my TV-watching-crew to get a Free Pass for dinner.  Here are some tips that I am taking to get my kids off of the couch and into the kitchen.

TAKE THEM SHOPPING

For me, going grocery shopping is a nightmare and only gets worse when rug rats tag along.  Still, if I can get them focused on the task at hand – they can actually be helpful in the aisles.  We talk about the grocery list ahead of time and get everyone’s buy-in.  Once in the store, my eight-year-old can go grab our favorite cream cheese or pick out the best looking Granny Smith’s.  They take ownership of the meal and are therefore less likely to complain.  After all, they chose green beans over carrots, and they try force it down without a lot of drama.

TURN OFF THE TV

Sounds simple enough – but when you try to interrupt a Sponge Bob marathon, be prepared for moans and groans.  Stay strong and keep the TV, along with the video game accessories, out of meal time and meal time preparation.

GIVE THEM OWNERSHIP

When someone knows what their job is and knows how to do it, they are positioned for success!  I have crowned my 4-year-old “KNIGHT OF THE ROUNDTABLE”.  He is responsible for picking out the plastic placemats and paper towel napkins.  A perk of this job is that he gets dibs on the Spider Man placemat and forces my 8-year-old to stick with the more juvenile Elmo.    My oldest is the DUKE OF DESSERT.  He selects the dessert and participates in the preparation.  Of course, there are KINGDOM RULES for dessert which he is quick to point out if little brother doesn’t take a bite of his peas.

CONVERSTION STARTERS

I recently interviewed Mary De Muth, who calls herself an authority on pioneer parenting (www.relaventprose.com).  She created a wonderful tool for making meal times meaningful for your family.  They are called “conversation starters”.  On the center of her table is a box filled with small sheets of paper which include open-ended questions for family members to answer.  Some of these are “What is one thing you would like to change about yourself and why?” and “If you were President of the United States, what would do you first?” or “Describe your perfect day? What would you do?”  The great thing about these conversation starters is that you get a chance to get to know your kids and, your kids to get to know you.  It’s a great way to keep your evening meal time sacred.

I’m not saying I am all together successful so please don’t point fingers and laugh at me in the drive-through line.  Still, at least I am trying to make meal times more meaningful by allowing my kids to participate in the process…. even if it means I get stuck with the Barney placemat!

Paige McCoy Smith is the Not-So-Perfect Parent, appearing Mondays and Wednesdays on "Good Morning Texas."   E-mail o8sis