HA HA this is not a joke

I swear everytime I serve Spaghetti or Rice that I will never again...and yet I keep doing it!

One of the first things children learn at my daycare is No Food On The Floor. That's a big no-no because I have a large rug under my dining room table. It doesn't take long for them to learn to be careful and I never have a problem. A small amount of food ends up on the floor of course, but nothing drastic. Teach them!

Same here as Momof4. They do not throw food on purpose or spit it out or meal is over. Everybody knows better... My son just tried to spit his food all over a few days and lunch was over. He was starving for afternoon snack, but he learn his lesson.

No clean up tips, but maybe next time make macaroni instead, or the "butterfly" noodles are a big hit with my kids. And I agree - rice is THE WORST thing to clean up!

i'm with you on this issue, Momof4 and artsand! It's amazing how even very young children can be transformed in a very short time to know that it is unacceptable to purposely throw food on the floor, or spill water on the table. accidents happen, of course, but my pet peeve is sippy cups being banged upside down on the table to make puddles to "play" in! i always have to sweep the floor after lunch, but it's never anything major...not even with rice. the key to cleaning up rice, (my son and i have it fairly often), is to let it dry a little then sweep it. trying to sweep while it's still 'wet' is a disaster! probably works the same with noodles, but they would definitely take longer to 'dry'.

My philosophy is that some foods are best left for parents to serve. My kids love pasta but they get it boiled with celery seed for a hint of flavour - no idea why of all the spices I tried they like this one the best - and a hint of butter and that's it.

And yes totally support the dog method - I so miss how much she helped get the crumbs from under the table.

For pasta I serve the butterfly ones too, forget what they are called, heehee, or penne or the rigatoni (spirals) with a touch of tomato sauce or just buttered as playfelt mentioned. I agree with her philosophy for food as well. I don't serve soups or stews, but I do serve chili and my tuna/rice/cheese casserole was a hit last week but the cheese kept it all stuck together for less mess. However, I had to change the pants of the 2 year old because she lost a spoonful on her lap and I didn't want her smelling like tuna all afternoon. I do serve yogurt about 3 times a week because it sticks to the spoon well, but I feed applesauce to the under 2's myself and don't even serve it often. They can have apples!