How to Get Kids to Set The Table

Dear Katie & Kelly: How do I get my kids involved in setting the table? Signed: Hopeless in Ho-Ho-Kus

Dear Hopeless: You might as well ask us how to herd cats! But we’re all about making the impossible, possible. The most important move to getting kids involved in setting the table is to store the kids’ dinnerware down at their level in one of the lower cupboards complete with kid utensils. This means that they can start setting their part of the table as young as two years old. Now, set your expectations super low at first and then build from there.

Of course, they’ll balk if this is something “new” you’re asking them to do (and they’re no longer two). If you’re a Classic or a Smart then explain that you set the rules and routines, then channel your inner steely side whenever they balk. If you’re a Fun or an Organic then make it into a fun activity. As Kelly, a Classic, is writing this today she has no idea how to turn a boring activity into a fun one so you’re on your own there. Regardless, introduce this new chore as if it’s something you’ve always asked of them and by giving them only one small task at first and building from there. As they reach Kindergarten, have them use your real plates. We’re products of Montessori and you’d be surprised what kids are capable of when you give them responsibility like walking with fragile plates. Good Luck! Katie & Kelly