saying "grace," or "centering" before a meal

Yesterday morning, while watching Madeline cartoons, I overheard this as the little girls were around the table:"We love our bread, we love our butter, but most of all we love each other."I love that! I think it will replace M's standard, "Bon appetite, you may eat!" As often as I can remember to, we try to say a little "grace," or take a moment before a meal to slow down, take a deep breath or two,  connect and make that transition to meal-time. It's also something I often recommend to my clients. The day can feel very hectic and taking a moment to pause from the craziness of getting the meal on the table, or rushing in from work helps on many levels.

• centering breath (with my adult clients I also couple this with explicit permission to eat. To eat what tastes good, what appeals and in satisfying amounts) That breath, pause, grace, prayer, whatever it is serves many purposes:• it helps to calm and center (for many, the table has been a place of guilt, conflict and anxiety. This is a concrete way of changing that.)• it helps you tune in to hunger and fullness cues• it helps connect you with yourself or family (holding hands is nice)• it makes it feel special• you can instill values, such as gratitude and appreciation for the cook, the farmers etc. if you wish.• it slows the pace• if you are in transition from  control to a trust model of feeding, this is a very concrete way of signaling to the family that things are different, a way of calling truce if you've been used to battling at the table over who is eating what or how much• can pass on family traditions (grampa's funny grace?)• starts the meal with focus and quiet, then you can get down to the business of passing plates and serving little ones who can't serve themselves• can transition nicely into conversation, "what was the best part of your day..."

What are your favorite pre-meal sayings or grace? Do you do it, why or why not?