Re: Know Thy Etiquette!
CB- this is a great thread!
GREAT idea about putting the leftover food in a container and giving it to the mom before she leaves… i absolutely hate wasting food and hopefully it will give the mom a hint in the future. I am going to start doing this…
I havn’t had too many huge dawats where a lot of kids come because I live in an apartment.. but when the time comes - I’ll probably be doing what my mom does.
She tells the moms to feed the kids first … in the kitchen area. Clean up is easier if a drink spills or food is dropped. She herself has a chota bacha so does the same…this makes the moms feel at ease that they are not being singled out. My mom says that before she had kids, she would just hang out in the kitchen area with the moms, and other women that didnt have children would automatically do it too. So the mom’s didn’t feel left out or alone by having to feed the kiddos in the kitchen.
My mom always make sure that there are some “kid friendly” food at dawats. It helps that my youngest bro is 10 years old. Tator tots, fries (chips), chicken nuggets, mini pizza bagels, a separate little kid friendly salad, etc. Moms are usually so thankful … its easier to feed kids that stuff as opposed to saalin and chawal. Plus kids are more likely to eat it (with less of a mess).
After kids eat - my mom puts on a kids movie for them. The now full kids are more than happy to just sit there… and this allows the moms to eat in peace.
My younger bro is like the kid patrol. 
. He makes sure that kids dont have drinks in their hands and go into other parts of the house (they can only drink in the kitchen). He makes sure that they are not running around. He keeps them occupied. mA a very samajdaar bacha…he has only helped make my mom’s life a million times easy.
So it has now become easy to control the kids… but the adults are another issue 
Other than cutting food into smaller pieces (another great idea!), are there any other suggestions to combat wastefulness???
And what about goray people… i hate when I see invited goray friends dump whole plates of food into the trash 
I think they put alot on their plate because they dont want to seem rude…but then can’t eat it later on? Plus its no big deal for them…
And ewe …whats up with guests putting their dish in the sink (or near the sink) with the dirty napkin and bones still on the plate!!! Why cant they walk the two extra steps and just throw the stuff in the trash???
I also hate it when people just leave their dirty dishes and cups all over the place. They can’t even bring it into the kitchen. So annoying .
When I make desserts… like trifles or mouse, etc. I dont make it one huge dish. I make them in little individual dessert dishes. Its a bit more of a hassle but better than people taking the dessert spoon and scooping up a huge blob and putting it on their plate and then not even eating all of it. It makes it less likely for them to get up for seconds too …
Cutting up pies and cakes into smaller slices before hand is helpful too.