the unexpected pig

A few weeks ago, something new was started at our dinner table to get rid of something old at our dinner table. That "something old" was poor table manners....you know, noises coming from little bodies (and occasionally big bodies) and mouths stuffed full of food while trying to carry on a conversation. I got this idea from Pinterest(where many of "my" ideas come from)....I wish I could claim it as my own. The idea is to have a little pig (in our case, it is a gourd because I still haven't found a pig I want, probably because I haven't looked to hard) at the dinner table with you. When someone is "caught" acting like a little piggie, the pig sits with them until someone else is "caught." We all wash our own dish, or rather rinse and put in the dishwasher now ;-) but whoever has the pig at the end of the meal has to clear off the table and wipe it down. This has been AMAZING at improving the kids table manners. I was so sick of constantly telling Addie to not talk with her mouth full but now, she is wonderful. A little too wonderful and finds so much joy in finding someone to give the pig to. The unexpected part of this adventure is how often Ammon and I get stuck with the pig :-( I didn't realize how often we talk with food in our mouth. Sometimes it is necessary. Say for instance a cute little girl is about to spill her whole plate on the ground and you just took a bite of food...in an instance like that where you have to stop something that would otherwise create a disaster, Addie might give you a break. NOPE not Addie. You said a word with food in your mouth, therefore you get the pig. All in all, this has been great. Just beware if you come to dinner at my house. Addie will getcha'
A funny little story. For a while now, Addie will hold up her pointer finger and say "I have a hypothesis..." and go on to explain some profound theory she has. Well someone asked Addie a question when she had some food in her mouth and she held up her pointer finger to indicate that she had food in her mouth and would answer in a minute (so she wouldn't get the pig). Kimball looked at her and said "What is your hypothesis Addie?"
I love my kids