I’m sure a lot of you have heard of the rose and thorn game. Well, it’s something my family does every night at the dinner table. The point of this daily family exercise is for each person at the table to take out their highlight of the day and take out their low point and talk about each.
Not only do I love hearing about the high points and low points of my son’s day, but the exercise really brings in great dinner conversation. It allows us to ask follow-up questions as to why this or that was a highlight or why this or that wasn’t. As I’m sure you all know, toddlers are not the most forthcoming with detailed information about their day. So it’s a great way to be sneaky about hearing about their day. A lot of the time it allows my family to recognize that we are grateful to be able to be having dinner together and that is often our highlight.
What I really love too, is that most of the time my son doesn’t have a thorn. When he says he doesn’t have a thorn, it really makes my husband and I think about how the little things of the day are actually not that big in the grand scheme of things. It reminds us not to sweat the small stuff, so that we too won’t consider those things thorns.
Even when we have guests over or are at my parent’s house, we often play the game. It’s really great to see what everyone comes up with. Sometimes, this game is met with some funny grins and eye rolls (I’m talking to you, sister!). However, that will not stop us from stopping for a second, engaging in conversation, and reflecting on our day. Much like another post I wrote about, about a daily gratitude exercise I do before bed, this is just another way to recap your day in a positive light and share your highs and lows with your family. Next time you’re at the dinner table, ask your family about their rose and thorn. You just might be surprised by what they each have to say!
