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Minneapolis say a simple grace, and then all squeeze hands before they eat.
    Taking Turns
    The Mowbrays take turns saying grace. Often they improvise, but in a pinch they keep returning to a traditional Christian blessing, “Bless us, 0 Lord, and these thy gifts, which we are about to receive from your bounty. Through Christ our Lord, Amen.”
    Buddhist Blessing
    Karly Randolph Pitman, a mother of four in Bozeman, Montana, often does a variation on a Buddhist loving kindness blessing. It has three parts, and the Pitmans say each line together: “May I be happy, may I be healthy, may I be peaceful, may I be true.” The second time through, they substitute “you” and look at the others while saying it: “May you be happy....” The third time, they all chime in: “May everyone be happy,” and so on, extending their blessing to the whole world.
Choosing a Grace
Two terrific books are A Grateful Heart: Daily Blessings for the Evening Meal from Buddha to the Beatles, edited by M. J. Ryan, and Bless This Food: Ancient and Contemporary Graces from Around the World, by Adrian Butash. Both provide many blessings and draw from a wide range of religions and regions.
Tip Box for New Parents: Rituals and Rules Are Sometimes the Same
When it comes to setting rules and rituals for every day, make this your mantra: It is far easier to turn a long-standing No into a once-in-a-blue moon Yes, than the other way around. Make strict rules about no screens at the table, no watching TV while eating, no staying up late, homework first after school, and so forth. Kids quickly get used to the limits you set, even find them comforting (but don’t expect them to say so). Then when you bend those rules for a meal or a day, it will be a huge treat. Just eating finger foods on a picnic blanket in front of the TV will be a major occasion. Think about it: If they can do anything they want, all the time, nothing is special and everything is chaos. Then, if you try to push back and set limits later, they will fight you every inch of the way.

    Dinner Family Traditions
    With a little planning and prodding, even hungry, preoccupied kids can make sparkling conversation.
    Family News
    Patrice Kyger insists that her children each share a “new and good” that happened to them during the day. Complaints and bad news are allowed, but never without the compensating good news. The Kygers are also on the lookout for what they call “blurbs,” random comments that strike everyone but the speaker as out of context and hilarious: These are written down in a special book.
    Dinner Toasts
    Amy Milne and her family clink glasses and make a toast at every dinner. “Sometimes it’s as simple as saying ‘To us,’ while other times we are honoring a special occasion,” says Amy, whose family lives in Asheville, North Carolina. “My parents always had a ritual to light the candles at dinner every night when I was growing up, and we had a candelabra on the table. The idea is to have something we do over and over, at home or in a restaurant, to celebrate that we are together. We taught the kids to always have eye contact while clinking.”
    One, Two, Three ... Whine!
    Courtney Andelman got tired of complaints about the menu and such. When the moaning begins, she simply calls for communal whining so everyone can get it off their chests. She says, “Let’s all whine at the same time, here we go! One, two, three ... waaaaaaaah!” Then everyone at the table laughs—and eats her food.
    Current Events
    Gloria Uhler’s kids had to come to the dinner table nightly with one topic of conversation related to current events. The rule was that all the children introduced their subject and shared some information they had heard or read. Everyone else in the family had to ask at least one question to keep the conversation going. If every night won’t work for you, try this as a weekly event.
    Thankfuls and Untkankfuls
    At dinner, Elizabeth Elkin always goes around the table