Welcome back to another episode of Silent Superheroes.
Today we're going to be talking about dinner time,
About making sure we enjoy our food and have a great time eating it.
The very,
Very,
Very first thing we should do before we start eating is to make sure we're calm.
We don't want to be eating when we're angry or frustrated or tense.
Not only will the food taste bad,
But we just won't be having a good time.
So let's start with a big slow breath in through the nose and out through the mouth.
Are you ready?
Good work.
So let's talk about food for a little bit.
I know when I was a little boy,
I used to love certain things and I hate other things.
But there was a few things that I just didn't even want to try.
I looked at it and said to my mummy,
I said,
Yuck,
That's gross,
I don't want to eat that.
And then the next time she brought it back to me,
I said,
Yuck,
That's gross,
I don't want to eat that.
And that happened again and again and again.
But eventually,
Finally,
One day,
I decided to try it.
It was a mango.
I decided to try that mango.
And do you know what?
I loved it.
Other times,
I could have been eating mango.
But because I didn't even try it,
I didn't know that it was my favorite food.
Can you believe it?
So do you know what I learned?
I learned that I should always try things at least once.
Just give it a big old try because you know what would be really bad?
What if there was another food like a mango that I didn't try but I actually loved it?
So now,
When I see a new food,
I take a big slow breath in through the nose and out through the mouth and I give it a try.
Let's do it now.
And then we tried the food and hey,
Sometimes it was delicious.
And other times,
I tried it and it was yucky.
But because I was calm,
Because I was doing my slow breathing and because I'd tried the food,
I could tell my mommy that I really didn't like it.
And do you know what she said?
She said,
That's okay.
That's fine.
I saw you try it.
So now we know.
Because the reason why your mommy or your daddy or your carers,
The reason why they say,
Hey,
Try this food and they push it and push it and push it is because they know that that food or a different food,
One of those foods might be your favorite and they just want you to experience that food.
So if you're ever unsure,
Take a big slow breath in through your nose and out through your mouth and give it a try.
You ready?
Now,
Once you've finished eating at the end of dinner,
It's always good to make sure that the table's clean,
That everything's put away and ready to go.
Because after dinner,
Usually it's time to start bedtime routine.
And that might mean quiet activities and quiet play and making sure the house is nice and clean.
So make sure that you look around at your plate and the table and the ground.
If there's any little mess there,
Just clean it up.
And I guarantee you,
Your parents or your carers will be so super happy and grateful.
So the best way to make dinner fun and enjoyable for everyone is to make sure we're calm.
So let's do one more big slow breath and then we'll enjoy our dinner.
Are you ready?
Have a great day.
This talk was taken from the book Mindfulness,
A guidebook to the present moment.
