Tea Time with Two Grandmothers

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Nearly every Friday my ex's wife and I get together at her house and spend time with our grandchildren. There are two girls, 4 and 5 and the baby boy 6 months old. A couple months ago we started having tea time rather than snack time and it's been so much fun! I bought pretty china cups and saucers and dessert plates at the thrift store and the girls and I set the table while other Grandma brews the tea and fills the cream and sugar receptacles. Each week I bring something interesting like Scotch shortbread, Chinese almond cookies, and other unusual treats. This week it is chocolate Dobash, a torte (layered cake) made without flour and filled with cream or other filling between the layers. It was invented in Hungary by Jozef Dobos in 1887. We will have quite a conversation about it, I'm sure. Tea time is very interesting. We talk about all kinds of things, like kinds of tea and why we brew it as we do, where it grows, the type of tea we are drinking that day and the culture living around the area where it is harvested. We've talked about the English invading Scotland and the subsequent rebellion, about kings and royal succession, how people sailed to other countries hundreds of years ago, and everything else under the sun, it seems. We are also teaching the girls manners like how to hold their cups, where to put their napkins and how to use them, not to stuff their mouths and how to take small bites as well as using a fork to cut pieces of cake. We will soon begin to teach them how to use different forks. A formal table setting has up to 3 forks and if there is a fourth course the fork is included when it is served. Have you ever done this with your children or grandchildren? If so, please share your experiences! If not, does it sound like something you would like to do?