Special Valentine Dinner

For Valentine's Day I hold a special dinner for my kids and husband. It is VERY fancy. My husband and I used to go out to dinner, but found that all we seemed to do was sit waiting for our table. Also who wants to babysit on Valentine's day. So instead I started having a dinner, after the kids went to bed. But then my kids got older and needed to have later bedtimes. That is when I came up with a Valentine's Dinner for the whole family. I don't make my kids dress up, but I do have them help me set the table. They have to learn where everything goes, so it is correct. They also help me cook the dinner. Then we invite Dad in. Dad doesn't help, he just gets to eat. Before the dinner I sit my girls down and we talk about how we eat, how we talk, and how we act at a very special meal. I feel good about this, because it will prepare them for when they start to date. Good habits start young! Anyway here are some tips I found on the Internet. It was a website called http://life.familyeducation.com/ It also had lots of tips on how to prepare for a formal dinner.

1. Cutlery. Don't hold your fork like a cello or your knife like Lady Macbeth's dagger. Also, don't wave your cutlery triumphantly in the air to emphasize a point and don't put silverware partly on the table and partly on the plate. After you pick up a piece of cutlery, it should never touch the table again. Knives go on the plate, blade facing in and touching the inside of the plate. Only the handle should rest on the rim of the plate.
2. Napkins. Don't blot or rub the lower half of your face. Dab delicately. Don't flap your napkin to unfold it and don't wave it around like a flag. It belongs unfolded on your lap. If you leave the table, place your napkin on the chair and push the chair back under the table. Gently. Watch the upholstery. Don't refold your napkin at the end of the meal because an unknowing server might give it to another diner. Pick up the napkin from the center and place it loosely on the table to the left of your plate.
3. Chewing. Never chew with your mouth open. Also, no matter how urgently you want to inject the perfect kernel of wit and wisdom at just the right moment, don't do it with food in your mouth. And don't gulp and blurt. Finish chewing, swallow, and smile philosophically, content in the knowledge that you could have said just the right thing, but had too much class to speak with food in your mouth.
4. Appearance. Remember what your mother said: Sit up straight and keep your elbows off the table. If you have any doubt about where your hands belong, put them in your lap.
5. Breaking bread. Here is a real bread-and-butter tip. Tear bread into bite-size pieces and butter each piece just before you eat it. Don't butter the entire slice of bread or the entire roll to get it ready for occasional bites during the course of the meal.
6. Speed. Take it easy. Whether you're at the Ritz Carlton or Gertie's Grease Pit, gulping down food is not only unhealthy but also unattractive, and it can cross the line into rudeness when dining with others. Dining partners should have the same number of courses and start and finish each one at about the same time. Don't be huddling over your soup while others are salivating for dessert or vice versa.
7. Don't pick! If you have something trapped between your teeth, don't pick at it while you are at the table. If it's really driving you nuts, excuse yourself, go to the restroom, and pick to your heart's content.

I also found this quiz and I took it. I did learn something that I didn't know. So take this quiz (kids can too) to see how good you are with manners at the table:

http://quizzes.familyeducation.com/manners/respect/55534.html

My sister takes this one step further. She plans a date out with each of her kids on their 16th birthday. Boys go with mom, and Girls go with dad. They go to a really nice expensive dinner and then a play. She gives them pointers so that they know how to behave on a date. I really like this idea! As Martha would say: "Its a good thing"