Lunch With Dad

#lunch#dad#eat#together#meal

The food is rarely the hard part. Staying seated, talking and sharing a calm moment with dad asks more than finishing the plate. The pictures below show what the shared lunch can look like, from setting the table to the last bite.

A parent and a child sit at a table with food and drinks.

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Lunch with dad

A parent and a child sit at a table with food and drinks.

Two people eat burgers with cutlery at a table.

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Eating together

Two people eat burgers with cutlery at a table.

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Eating lunch

Two people sit across from each other eating lunch at a table.

Two people eat together at a round table with a heart speech bubble.

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Sharing a meal

Two people eat together at a round table with a heart speech bubble.

About this visual support

Shared meals hold more than food. At the table the child has to sit still for a while, listen, say something back and keep attention up while the plate empties. For many it is precisely the social side that is hard, not the eating, and a lunch that drags on can feel long when the body wants to be up and off.

Visual support gives the meal a clear arc. When the child sees that you set the table, eat, talk for a bit and then may leave, staying seated gets easier, because the end is visible. The pictures also make the invisible, taking turns to speak, a little more concrete.

One tip is to add a picture showing something to talk about, such as the best thing from the morning, so the conversation has a starting point rather than a silent expectation. The time with dad then becomes easier to fill. In the Routined app you can put the steps of the meal together and end with a picture of what happens after lunch.