A Rewarding Tradition

Something that many of us have from childhood that we tend to cherish, are memories of traditions. Christmases, Thanksgivings, Holidays of many sorts and sizes are cherished memories (sometimes not so much-- but still memories).

Earlier, we talked about Meal Planning. How important it is to get your family involved using the Food Dreams box, and how it can become a way to teach them about nutrition.

Well, there's an inherent reward in it already-- you get to eat what you like. That's great, and we're all happy about that! But sometimes, that's not enough. Sometimes, they don't want to be bothered, and even the thought of getting their special something isn't going to get them to help you out. Of course, it's perfectly appropriate to sit them down and require that they participate. I do so, myself.

There's a way to make this more likely to happen, though. A simple reward. For my family, the reward for eating dinner together all week, for helping with the Food Dreams box, etc. is that we have Pizza Friday. I eat gluten free pizza, and hubby makes and eats his own regular pizza.

We get to do our own toppings. We do it all together. Spending our time in the kitchen together on Friday night is great fun for us.

However, if you want to order out for pizza, or get some frozen cheese pizzas, this is perfect, too! I don't have this option, being gluten free and only able to comfortably eat certain kinds of cheese, but if you have this option, I say use it!

Let everyone top their own pizza. Get everyone in the kitchen for a short period, together. Then eat together. Ordering out or using frozen pizza can really make this a quick meal prep, so that you have a 'free' evening.

However, don't let non-cooperation get in the way of YOU having a free evening. Fridays can be, if everyone chips in through the week, Pizza Friday. Or, if folks choose not to chip in, decide to be uncooperative or too busy to help, then it can be Leftovers Friday.

Either of these are a tradition. The question is, does the family create the rewarding tradition together, or don't they?

This is especially effective when you have a child that helps, and one who doesn't. The one who helps gets to enjoy their pizza while the one who doesn't gets to have leftovers. This is a great way of teaching the natural consequences of our choices, not only from what you get (or don't get) to eat, but from seeing what the cooperative child gets for their choice.

Also, from another important aspect, this helps to accent the weekly progression. The cycle of the week, in which you begin on Friday to calm down, slow down, ease up for the coming weekend. It is an important part of the weekly cyclic progression, and a nice reminder of the coming free(er) time.

Plus, in years to come, you may be surprised at the laughter, joy, and fun you can create together as you make smilie faces on your pizza, try different toppings, and generally have a weekly tradition of doing something simply for the JOY of it.

Some may argue that this is too often to eat pizza, but I would argue that a weekly treat for the sake of nothing else but to have a treat, makes keeping the rest of the week strict easier.

So enjoy yourselves once a week. Reward helpful behavior, while giving yourself a break, too. It'll be worth it not only right now, but in memories in years to come, too.