Storytelling at the Dinner Table

Family meals are a big part of our days.  It can be challenging, however, to keep the kids engaged, yet not causing trouble.  I try to do things like make special theme dinners as often as I can.  I want our time together to be memorable.

One thing that we do over lunch time when Daddy is not usually with us is tell stories.  They can be true or fiction.  Each person takes a turn.  The kids think this is great fun.  The other day I told them a story about a pea.  I know it was corny, but they thought this was my best story ever.  Here it is:

Once upon a time a little pea sprouted in its little pod on a little green plant.  He grew and swayed happily in the wind with his brothers and sisters.  Then one day when he was all grown, his pod was snapped off and put in a basket.  He was happy in this basket with his family and friends, but he wasn’t there long.  Pretty soon he was set free from his pod and placed in a plastic bag.  He missed some of his friends, but he still had a good life, for a pea.

But one day a man took him home and put him on a plate at the family dinner table.  Then he saw the big man’s hands coming, and they spooned out about a fourth of the pea’s friends.  That’s when he got scared.  He saw the big hand coming again, so he rolled away.  This time the man took a small spoon full of peas and put them on Graces’ plate.  She gobbled them up happily as the little pea watched in horror.

Then, oh, no–here came the big hand again, and the little pea rolled as far away as he could.  Whew!  The big man took only three peas this time and placed them on Faith’s plate.  Faith put them all in her mouth and swallowed.  The pea was trembling now as the big man hand came again.  He took three more peas and placed them on Joy’s plate.  Joy was much crueler.  She smashed her peas angrily on her plate before she finally ate them.

There were only a few peas left on the plate now.  And as the big man hand came once more there was nowhere for the pea to roll, and up, up, up he went and down, down, down.  He was placed on little Jason’s high chair tray.  Jason Jr. spotted the little pea hiding at the corner of his tray.  He picked up the little pea, squealed, and yelled, “Ball!”  Then he threw the little pea across the room.  The little pea hit the floor with a thunk, but he kept rolling right out the door where he was saved from being eaten and lived a happy little life in the sun.  The End.

It was a good life, for a pea!  Ha ha.  Afterward, one of my daughters asked, “Mom, was that sort of a true story?”  Well, yeah, it was–sorta!  The next time you are sitting around the dinner table and the kids are driving you crazy, try storytelling.  No doubt you will come up with a better one!

This post is linked to Making your Home Sing Mondays.