Lunch With Dad
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.
♂Lunch with dad
A parent and a child sit at a table with food and drinks.
♂Eating together
Two people eat burgers with cutlery at a table.
♂Eating lunch
Two people sit across from each other eating lunch at a table.
♂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.