Yesterday, an article was posted on the home page of Yahoo by Nancy Shute of US News & World Report about a new book called "Raising Happiness." The sociologist author of the book, Christine Carter, recommends parents ask themselves two questions to help make family life better: 1) When are you happiest with your kids and 2) What part of the normal day with your family routinely causes suffering? The author suggests to "make sure your day is structured so that you get routine, habitual happiness and so that you're eliminating habitual pain."

It was easy to identify my happy time: when my son and I are just playing and relaxing together at home or elsewhere. I love being silly with him, chasing him around the house and just savoring special play time. Dinnertime followed by getting my son to bed seems to be when the contention and "suffering" happens. Getting my 2-year-old to sit down and eat without all the game playing is proving challenging. And, settling down for bed has been difficult although it's recently become a bit easier to wind down. What's tough for us is that when we get home after work/preschool, it's dinnertime and bedtime isn't far off. I hate to think that the little time I have with my son in the evenings is the most stressful. That's supposed to be my treasured time with him. And, it's probably not as stressful for him as I'm making it on myself.

I'm going to find a way to make the evenings more enjoyable and work on being "in the moment" instead of worrying about the struggle that might (or might not) come when the clock strikes bedtime. A smooth transition and better countdown to bedtime will help. Now how can I get this kid to sit and focus on eating?