A friend of mine shared with me a game she plays around the dinner table to encourage conversation with her children. It's called "Sweet and Sour." She started it when they were very young - around the ages of mine - and still plays it to this day with her High School Senior and College Sophomore. It is her CHILDREN she says, that initiate Sweet and Sour with her - even as teenagers/young adults. The concept is simple. You go around the dinner table and say one sweet thing and one sour thing about your day. At this age, the sweet and sour are pretty simple and sometimes quite silly or fleeting. But, as it was a few weeks ago, sometimes Sweet and Sour is just plain "sweet."
A week before Christmas, we had gone as a family to a Santa parade in a cute local town. CB happened to be with her dad that weekend, so she wasn't with us. After a cold evening, we got home and ate a warm dinner. Of course we played our game. When it was Pink's turn for Sweet and Sour she said :
My Sweet thing was that we had a great day spending time together as a family! My sour thing is that CB was not here to do it with us."
CB ignores her, pushes her, scratches her, has never spoken one word to her, barely registers her existence... and yet here Pink is, in her own way, saying she missed her sister being there. Even at 5, she knows the Sour of a family incomplete.
Funny thing was, that was my Sour too.
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11 comments:
Reading this? My sweet.
Great story, and what a great tradition!
what a girl ya got there. and how wonderful it is for me to read those words of your daughter. i always wonder what olivia thinks of her brother. oh, our sweet children, may they shower their compassion on the world.
Leah
Lovely. All of it. Pink is just incredible.
So glad your baaaack. Your writing always gives me moments of pause... to laugh or cry...or both.
Love this! I am stealing this great idea! Thank you! I am catching up on my favorite blogs! Finally....
That's awesome. My husband and I often remark on how our youngest can be so tolerant of an older brother who attacks him for no reason and won't play with him. And yet, our kids still love their siblings wholeheartedly. It's amazing, isn't it?
I just love this blog. What Pink said rocked, thats when you know your doing it right!
Oh and thanks for stopping by, I saw your comments! I'm not sure how you do it with 4 kids because I'm about to run away from home....Yeahhh... and whats with the 2 year old wanting to be a baby again? ugh!
We have this tradition here as well! But it's not so cutely named. I like Sweet and Sour. We just say "What was the best part of your day?" Maybe we'll try adding in the sour!
What a doll baby she is.
Your younger children are going to be so blessed by having this experience with their older sister. Just think of all the knowledge, compassion, empathy and understanding they will be able to spread. Who knows what powerful things will come as a result of loving their older sister?
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