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Kate S's avatar

We’re lucky that my in-law’s family is too big for formal dinners and my side is small enough that dinner is just an extra two people at the table. So we don’t have any “sit there and eat” expectations but his neurodivergence comes out in a strong need to explore new environments. So when we go to my in-law’s he has a need to go into EVERY ROOM and if not watched will root through EVERY DRAWER (something that was cute at 2, but is less cute at 6). If it was just us we’d give him his headphones and tablet which would turn him into a perfect angel but since he’s the only cousin under 10 there’s NO WAY the aunts would stop trying to interact with him and while the child is a handful without electronics he is a MONSTER if thwarted from his electronics. So chasing the muppet around is what we’ve got.

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Becky Karush's avatar

I always think of the Little House books, especially Farmer Boy, when I hear grousing (shaming) about how kids don’t know how to behave at the table, or anywhere, anymore. Authoritarian to the core! Beatings to the child who reaches for a roll before his turn, which is last! But the sledding is awesome so… it’s all worth it?? Those books were a persistently if quietly bothersome inheritance for me, having read them so, so young.

Our kid is 13, past the days of meltdowns and wild anxious happiness to see Grampy and unfiltered disgust at turkey meat. When they were little, though, group meals were always a lot, and eventually we just stopped apologizing or feeling any way except “this is where our kid is at and having screen time in the living room is the call we make for them, it won’t be forever, this stuff takes time, we’ll get there, we’re just going to relax and enjoy this meal although discomfort and exhaustion vein all group meals so relax haha the salad’s really good.” You know, simple feelings! (As she falls to the floor, cackling at the slowly spinning, dust-encrusted blades of the ceiling fan.)

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