Be it breakfast, lunch or dinner or maybe just tea time, good meal time habits are always essential because not only do they reflect you as a person, but it is a good time for everyone to bond and build relationships. But with every family and every meal, there are a set of things that nearly every family might do wrong and these set of tips just promote good habits that we must all inculcate the next time we have a meal with our families or friends just for the betterment of ourselves as individuals.

    1.Always eat together as a family.

    Many families with young children, older persons or teenagers will know that a lot of times, meals have to be brought to the person's room but try not to encourage this and have at least one meal that the entire family eats together. Preferably make this dinner because if it is breakfast, family members might be hurrying up to get to school or work and lunch might be spent at the school or work place so try going for a family dinner together. Encouraging a good family dinner means that the family learns to bond together and members who like to be in isolation most of the time are pulled into the family too.

    2.Promote good dinner time chat.

    It is no use getting your entire family to sit around the dinner table if it feels awkward because no one is talking. Teenagers and children might even turn against you because of this. Try to talk to everyone asking what they've been up to the whole day, whether or not they like the food, what they could change in it and just keep the conversation flowing.

    3.Never watch TV whilst eating meals.

    That is probably one of the worst things you can do because sometimes, you are just so engrossed watching the telly that you don't know what you are eating. I know it sounds strange but part of good meal time habits is that you concentrate on your food and appreciate what you are eating. Also, the telly will prevent good meal time chat and you are only going to bond with the TV rather than with the rest of the family.

    4.Get the family cooking.

    This will definitely work with children but try to get even the older members of your family cooking together rather than dumping it all on to one person. Someone can chop the vegetables while someone else does the meat so divide the work among the members of the family so they all feel involved.

    5.Wash your hands before every meal.

    My parents who are doctors always ask me to wash my hands before every meal even if I am going to eat with a knife and a fork. I never really understood why I should do this but when they gave me a valid answer, they did have a point. Children and teenagers and sometimes even adults will touch their food if they have to sometimes. They may touch the rim of their plates and this means that you are depositing all of the bacteria from your hands on to the plate. When you eat off the plate, all of those bacteria go into your stomach. If you are eating something like a sandwich or a burger and sometimes, some people like eating pizzas with their hands, this is directly feeding yourself bacteria so wash your hands even though you might use a knife and a fork.

    6.Light the room well.

    If the dining room looks very upbeat, the meal immediately looks interesting and your family members will reflect the mood of the lighting too. If the place looks very dull, everyone might be running a bit low on their energy so it is best if you put some nice lighting and some VERY low music in the background just so that you have a pleasant eating experience.

    7.Taste everything even if you don't like it.

    Children and teenagers might reject a new food if you present it to them and I know that some adults might be sceptical about eating certain foods but give them a tip. Ask them to try just a tiny spoonful and if they like it, they can have more. If they don't, then leave them to finish the rest of their meal. A lot of the times people have preconceived ideas that they don't like a particular kind of food but if they try a bit, there is a possibility they might love it. If you cook the dish again and your child rejects it, ask them to try it again. Constant feeding in really tiny spoonfuls may lead to the child or person getting used to it and thinking that it isn't that bad after all.

    8.Good manners while leaving the table don't hurt.

    If someone has to leave the table immediately because they have to do some important work or attend a call, have them say "Excuse me" and say what that important thing they had to do is. This way, the person is learning manners that are useful if he or she is at a formal dinner place and most of all, good manners just don't hurt! This way you know where the person is going and you are assured that they aren't indirectly saying they don't want to eat with the rest of the family.

    9.Be decent at the table.

    My parents always told me that eat at home like you would eat outside. Never do silly things like burp or pour gravy on your fingers or something silly. Don't play around with food or make faces in your potato mash. Even laughing loudly isn't very polite especially if you are outside. Teaching this to children and using it yourself means that you are encouraging good manners and that you learn to eat outside the same way. Doing silly things at home are excusable but doing them outside where there are other people isn't really that laudable. So try eating at home as decently as you can. Children will want to muck about but tell them straight off that it isn't very polite. Tell them that they wouldn't want to have someone burping at them or laughing at them.

    10.Teach children to eat well.

    Teenagers and children can be quite fussy when it comes to eating food. Refer this article that teaches how to get your children to eat healthily. If you use the tips I've provided in that article, you will notice a significant change in the eating habits of your children.

    Just little things like the ones I've listed above will not only teach you and your children how to have a good ettiquette when you go outside but also it is helping your family bond indirectly through a meal. This really is food for thought!

    無論是在吃早點，中餐、晚飯還是喝茶時人們都應保持有良好的用餐習慣，好的習慣不僅能反映出一個人的形象問題，而且它還是一個建立和加強人際關系的良好時機，因此用餐時養成好的習慣非常重要。但是幾乎所有的家庭在用餐時，都不同程度上會犯些錯誤。而這些教你養成好習慣的貼士下次我們在與家人或者朋友一起用餐時務必遵循。

    1.一家人應時常聚在一起吃飯。

    家有小孩，老人與青少年的家庭都知道，很多時候，他們會把飯帶到自己的房間里去吃，但盡量不要提倡這種做法，每天至少應有一餐整個家庭成員聚在一起吃。或許晚餐是個最好的選擇，如果選擇早餐一起吃，家庭成員中可能有人要敢趕時間去學校或上班，而中餐大部分時間則在學校或工地度過，因此盡量在晚餐時大家聚在一起。一個氣氛令人鼓舞的家庭晚宴能使家人的心緊密聯系在一起，而且對家庭成員中那些內心孤僻的人來說很多時候他們也會感到家的溫馨因而融入其中。

    2.營造良好用餐談話氛圍。

    一家人圍坐在餐桌前如果因為覺得尷尬而彼此不說話就沒有意義。孩子們也可能會對你的這種安排產生憎恨的情緒。盡量跟家庭成員的每一個人說說話，了解下他們今天做了些什么事情，是否對你做的飯菜感到滿意，他們能否對你做的飯菜再進行些調味等使整個談話繼續下去。

    3.吃飯勿看電視。

    吃飯看電視可能是你最易犯的不良習慣之一，有時候當你全神貫注看電視時會忘記自己吃的是什么。我知道這聽起來有點怪，但良好的用餐習慣之一就是專心吃飯與品位你正在食用的食物。此外，看電視會影響用餐談話氛圍，會使你只顧著電視里的情節進展而忽略與家人的溝通。

    4.讓家庭成員參與烹飪。

    做飯時最好與孩子們一起忙活，同時也盡可能讓家庭成員里的長輩參與其中而不要一味的將任務推給某一個人。他們中有人可能會切菜，而另一些人中有的會做肉制佳肴，這樣就可以將工作在家庭成員中得以分配，他們也會有種參與的感覺。

    5.飯前應洗手。

    我的父母是醫生，他們總要求我每頓飯前洗手，即使是用刀叉時也會這么要求。他們說的非常有道理。但在他們給我確切的解釋前我一直不大理解為什么我應該這樣做。兒童和青少年，有時甚至成年人在必要時也會用手去接觸食品。他們可能會用去手接觸盤子的邊緣，而這就意味著將手中的細菌帶到了盤子里。當你吃掉了盤子里的食物時，這些細菌就會進入你的肚子。如果你喜歡用手拿著吃三明治或漢堡包，當然有些人喜歡吃用手拿著的比薩餅，這樣就等同于自己在直接飲用細菌，因此，即便是你用刀叉吃飯請洗洗手。

    6.使房間燈光明亮。

    如果餐廳的光線非常的有雅致，吃飯時就會立馬覺得帶勁而家人的心情也會通過光線作用變得明朗起來。如果房子里的燈光過于暗淡，大家的食欲可能會有所低落因此最好將光線調好同時放點輕音樂做背景，這樣的話會讓你吃飯時有一個愉快心情。

    7.即便是你不喜歡的食物也應試著去品嘗。

    兒童和青少年可能不愛吃一些新的食物，如果你將它擺在他們面前，他們會予以拒絕。而且據我所知一些成年人也對某些食物情有獨鐘，不妨給他們點建議。可以叫他們先嘗試一小口看，如果喜歡的話，他們就會多吃點。如果不喜歡，就讓他們把自己剩余的飯菜吃完。很多時候，由于成見人們不喜歡吃某種特定的食物，但如果他們愿意先嘗試一點，很可能會變得愛吃它了。如果你第二次做它的時候孩子們還是不吃，不妨請他們再嘗試嘗試。這樣每次吃一點點，孩子們及他人就會習慣吃了并會發現原來它并不難吃。

    8.離開餐桌時不忘表現得體。

    如果有人因一些重要的事情要急于處理或接聽電話需要立即離開餐桌時，他們是否會說聲"對不起",并解釋是什么重要的事情他們得去做？這樣的話，對正在學習禮儀的人來說，會使他或她日后出席正式的晚宴場合時會覺得非常受用，而且最重要的是，良好的舉止行為并無大礙！這樣，他們的離開你就會知道他將往何處并堅信他們不是不愿與家人一起共餐了。

    9.餐桌前應端莊。

    我的父母常跟我說，在家吃飯時什么樣子在外面吃也會一樣。吃飯時不要做些像打嗝或將肉汁倒在手指上與其他一些滑稽的事情。不要糟蹋食物與將土豆泥涂在自己的臉上。連放聲大笑甚至也會被認為是不禮貌的行為，特別是在外面吃的時候更是這樣。倡導文明的舉止行為應是在教導孩子們禮儀的同時將這些禮儀運用于自己身上，這樣在外面吃時你會和在家里表現出同樣的舉止。如果說在家里做些滑稽的行為可以得到原諒，但在外面這樣做的話他人就會覺得并不值得稱贊了。因此，在家里吃飯時盡量舉止端莊。孩子們可能會胡鬧但要直截了當的告訴他們那是不禮貌的行為。告訴他們，在吃飯時人們一般不喜歡有人向他們打嗝和大笑。

    10.教導孩子吃好。

    青少年和兒童在吃東西時可能特別挑剔。請參考這篇教導《如何讓孩子吃得健康》的文章。如果您運用了我在那篇文章里提到的一些貼士，你會發現孩子的飲食習慣有了重大的改變。

    我上面列舉的一些細節不僅可以讓你與你的孩子在外面時怎樣去保持良好的舉止行為，而且它還可以幫助你通過聚餐間接性地搞好家庭關系。這著實耐人尋味！