We decided to institute a new family tradition. I read about the idea in a book recently and thought it would be fun. I'm sure the author was referring more to actually dressing up for dinner, meaning put on your Sunday best when you come to the table once a week. But obviously, 'dressing up' means something totally different in our household.
It's no secret that my children are slightly addicted to costumes and that their room contains a plethora of costumes. So, it was easy to pick what our very first "Dress Up For Dinner Night" theme should be. We had no shortage of animal costumes. Here were the ground rules:
1. you have to pick your own costume (mommy is not responsible for picking anyone's costume but her own).
2. you may use my make up to accent a certain feature, say whiskers, noses, cheetah dots - but only the make up I give you.
3. mommy and daddy come up with the theme and will announce the theme the day of "DUFDN".
4. everyone must participate - even guests.
I'm thinking this should supply us with a wonderful host of memories and hopefully a very fun tradition to pass on as well as many embarrassing moments.
We added a unique twist on this, our very first night of fun. We decided that since we were all dressed as animals, we may as well see what its like to eat like an animal. So we told the kids to put their forks down and start eating from their plates with their mouths only, no hands. The kids were overjoyed and showed much enthusiasm for this aspect of dinner. We all gave it a try and I must admit, it WAS nice to throw off the 'rules' for a bit and not worry about everyone's manners. Here's a few lovely pictures as proof that we all enjoyed the moment. In case you can't tell, Gavin is the roaring lion (by the way, he's had this costume since he's been 3 and he still fits into it, go figure), Bennett is the cheetah, Chloe is the ferocious dog, I am the panther and Chuck is the giraffe.
