Any parent knows that the sure-fire way to challenge your kids’ ability to sit still is to take them to a packed restaurant.
Outings usually call for a combination of bribery, threats and distractions to keep kids behaving.
Former Cosmopolitan magazine editor Bronwyn McCahon knows this as well as any parent and has shared a genius trick that she says “works a treat” at restaurants.
Listen: There’s an Italian restaurant that gives incentives to parents to keep their kids quiet.
The mum to six-year-old Harper, Grace, four, and two-year-old Theo told her Instagram followers on Sunday that she found an old family tradition was a great way to get her children to behave.
“Growing up we always did family trivia night every Sunday night,” McCahon wrote.
“Dad would ask all of us kids age-appropriate questions and the prize for a correct answer was a cube of Violet Crumble (remember when you could buy them in bags?).”
The mum-of-three said she had “such fond memories” of the tradition, she decided to start it with her kids.
“Sometimes we even take our questions and chocolate eggs to restaurants if we’re eating out.”
“Works a treat getting them to behave.”
Sounds good to us: simple, effective and fun.
We’re not the only ones who are planning to pass this parenting trick off as our own, judging from the positive feedback the post received.
“So cute Bron, stealing this,” commented one follower.
“What an awesome idea!” wrote another.
Meanwhile, we’re still feeling inspired by a cute family tradition shared by another well-known mum.
Kim Kardashian recently shared that she writes letters to her children, North, three, and one-year-old Saint, each year, “reflecting on the year we had together & fun memories”.
The reality star tweeted that she plans to give the letters to her kids when they turn 21.
You can download the latest episode of Mamamia’s parenting podcast This Glorious Mess on iTunes or listen here:
Do you have a family tradition?
Top Comments
I love hearing or reading about other people's positive family traditions :) Thanks for sharing it. That's a great way to make a family night out at a restaurant fun for everyone. When I was growing up I loved our family Christmas tradition of playing cricket. Aunties, uncles, cousins, grandparents all would team up for a cricket match. I was so sure one of my older cousins was going to be in the Australian cricket team one day ;)
While I actually really like the idea of a family quiz night, what is wrong with kids learning that sometimes they are going to be bored or they have to be quiet and sit still and they just have to put up with it?
If you rely on stuff like this, or your mobile phone/gaming device to keep them in line, what are you going to do in a situation where those tactics aren't appropriate? Family funeral, for instance. Are you going to let little Johnny sit there on the ipad during his grandparent's funeral?
Life is short, better to lighten up and enjoy the journey. Children thrive and learn quite well from parents who don't take every little thing and turn it into a seriously, hard-nosed life lesson. Obviously people, especially children are adaptable so would respond differently at a more serious event or a funeral. Also, what value is there in learning to be bored? I've never been bored even when I've been stuck waiting in a very long queue or enduring something less than interesting.