My weekly newsletter is Have you signed up?. In my weekly newsletter, I also share what the family thinks about the recipes that I have made in the past week. It has become a popular dinner activity for a family to rate the meal or its components on a 1-10 scale. This encourages everyone, validates their opinions, and adds more brainpower to the meal planning discussion. If, for example, one person does not like a particular part of a meal, we explore why and how it could be improved. Next time, let’s try it!
It was really fun to see the kids understand the concept, and it was exciting to see them get excited about being able be a part of the conversation. This has meant I have had to become more tolerant of some criticism. Even the negative reviews are worthwhile because Kaitlyn starts off each one with “I apologize for hurting your feelings, but ….“.
On a scale from 1-10, 1 is I’d never eat it again and 10 means I would eat it every night. single. night. Hailey (7) has a good grasp of the range but Kaitlyn (4 years old) is still learning. She’ll say she loves something, but then give it a 2 or 3. Sometimes she’ll make a gag face and then give it an 8.
It’s nice to get a sense of their tastes, but it also makes for a great dinner conversation.