Jan 22, 2013

S'UPper Jar: Talking at the Dinner Table



Our family is pretty good about sitting down all together for dinner every night. My Little Men are young so we don't have many conflicts in the evenings. This allows us to gather around the table and eat as a family.

Now, while we are able to gather together at the table, that does not mean that meal times are always pleasant.

In fact, it is a miracle if we don't have spilled milk, crying over said spilled milk, whining, coercing, one child poking the other, that child annoyed at the poking, a burp, a poop joke, outburst of laughter at the poop joke, humming, singing, ear plugging, and all of it resulting in the culmination in Hubby declaring in a raised voice,

"1,2,3 QUIET GAME!"

At which every member of the family is "challenged" who can be quiet the longest.

Hint...Little never wins.

A few weeks ago, while going through our same dinner routine, a thought popped into my head.

I am quite surprised I could even hear any thought in my head, but I did.

I wanted us to talk to each other, maybe even find out something fun about each other. I thought it would be fun to have dinnertime be a time to learn about each other, to ask questions, and to grow closer.

I came up with the S'UPper Jar. A jar of questions if you will.

Hence the play on word with the S'UP part...hahahaha...oh man my moment of cleverness made me giggle. It also brought to mind a phrase from one of my favorite shows

"S'up with the wack s'up, s'up!" Name the show, name the character!

Okay back to the S'UPper Jar.
  

The jar is filled with tons of different kinds of questions. Some are silly. Some are questions to help us learn something about each other. There are questions meant to spark a discussion and there are some to teach.

Every meal we pick out 2-3 questions. We answer one question at a time, going around the table so everyone gets a turn to answer or discuss. Then we move onto the next question.

The jar was really easy to put together. I am making it even easier for you because I am giving you a label to print off and a set of questions you can download.

Woohoo! It is pretty exciting.

To make your own family S'UPper Jar you will need a quart-sized canning jar, a label and the questions printed off.


Here is the label:

Just right click and save as an image on you computer. Then insert into a Word document, and resize to fit the jar (about 3" across the top). Then print off.

There are 4 sheets of questions you can download, too.


Download S'UPper Jar Questions (4 pages)

Cut the label down to size. Tape the label on the front of the jar.


Cut the questions into strips. Fold the strips and put them into the jars.


I prettied up the jar a bit, 'cause I am obsessed with that kind of thing.


At dinnertime the jar comes out. Then the conversation begins. 

Now my jar is not going to get rid of the occasional burp and it certainly is not going to get rid of all the poop jokes. However, I am excited to see what kind of things I will learn about my Little Men. I am also excited for all the discussions. It should be a pretty good time.

I hope you enjoy the S'UPper Jar and that your family will join mine in growing closer to each other one plate at at time.

Linking Here:

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

So fun! Even mike and I need to be better at talking at the dinner table, instead of just shoving the food into our face as quick as we can.

Erika said...

I love this idea!!
I don't have a family of my own yet, but this would be great for me and the roomies!

Also.... is the quote from Joey on Friends?? I feel like it is, but I'm not 100% sure. haha.

Larissa@Just Another Day in Paradise said...

Erika!!!

You got it. YAY! It was Joey from Friends. I am so happy that someone got the reference!

Corrie- said...

What a TERRIFIC idea Larissa! I'm thinking that this jar could even be a great neighbor gift next Christmas. Thanks for sharing!

Melanie said...

Yeah...you are awesome. Good thinking lady!

Larissa@Just Another Day in Paradise said...

Thanks girlies!!

Whatever Dee-Dee wants said...

You always have the best ideas! I especially love this one.

Audra @ Renewed Projects said...

What a fabulous idea! I started something similar (started as in still saved on my computer). I'm combining your questions with the ones I have from Focus on the Family. Thanks for the reminder!

Larissa@Just Another Day in Paradise said...

I will have to go to Focus on the Family for some more questions when I have used all of mine! Thanks!

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