Mister is an atheist and I'm somewhere else on the faith spectrum. We talk often and seriously about how we want to answer questions about God, about Heaven, about church. (We have answers for some, not for others.) And, because I've been asked, yes, we do have a plan for religion and our children.
We aren't going to prayer before a meal, but friends of ours said they were having a moment of silence before eating. A couple of weeks ago, I introduced family circle. We join hands and thank the farmers, the dairymen, the ranchers, the bakers, and various others (tonight, the doughnut makers made the list). I like the idea of remembering their are people behind the food on our table. It's one small step to connecting us, and our children, to what we eat.
Bama loves it. She joins in, leads, often reminds us to hold hands. Tonight, Pickles (awkwardly) joined the circle. First, I held him, then we had a second circle and Mister held him. The moment reminds us that we in this family make a circle, and that we are connected to each other in a delicate, yet unbreakable, circle.
smallstheworld 
We’ve been doing a similar dinnertime grace for some time now, although in our house each person takes a moment to say one thing that they are thankful for that day. It’s been wonderful listening to the way their sense of gratitude changes over time. For months, E would say “Mama, Dadda, Babba, me!” and it was a highlight of my day. Now she’s moved on to “food”. The family circle is a lovely ritual and sets such a nice tone for the meal, especially after the chaos of dinner prep and hungry bellies.
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