are you done?

At one time, when McKenna was done eating she would want to get up from the table to go play. "I want out!" (of her high chair) she would demand. Duke and I would insist that she needed to sit at the table with us until we were done eating too. "I want out," she would scream. It wasn't a pretty sight. But we felt strongly that this was something we should enforce so that dinner time would be a pleasant experience for all of us AND so that we wouldn't have this kind of a scene at a restaurant.

So here is how the lesson worked. When Duke and I were done eating we would ask each other "Mommy, are you done? - Yes - Daddy, are you done? - Yes - Okay, McKenna, Mommy and Daddy are both done... you can go play now." Well it worked! After several weeks of working with her, McKenna began to sit at the table with us and just enjoy our company. Until the other night...

McKenna was done eating and sat patiently for a few moments and then asked "Are you done?...Mommy, are you done?...Daddy, are you done?" This went on until...well...until we were done.