The Preschool Times

I don’t know about you, but I found it really difficult to gather my family together for family dinner every night. With the complex schedules of working parents and active children, most meals were taken on the run.

There is good reason to rethink our busy schedules in reference to the family dinner. Latest research shows that families that sit down to family dinner at least five times per week had half the odds of substance abuse. In addition the statistics were particularly relevant to teenage girls. Girls who regularly ate meals with their families showed declines in risky behavior even if they did not have a good relationship with their family!

So what is it about family dinner that has such a positive effect on the future of our children? Is it the home cooked meal, can it be take out, do you need to be at home? Well I guess the best way to work through these questions is to present each case on its own merit.

Let’s look at the first question. Is family dinner defined as a home cooked meal? The process of preparing a home cooked meal lends itself to idyllic interpretations. The aroma’s of the ingredients mingling together in a warm kitchen, – how “Norman Rockwell”. Of course those of us who have actually made home cooked meals know that it is actually a bit more chaotic then the image it incurs.

Ok so let’s try the image another way. Someone purchases the meal on the way home, while other family members prepare the settings. This image is probably a bit more familiar to most families.

Now let’s try the scenario in a restaurant. Someone else prepares, serves, and cleans up the meal. That’s even easier!

Frankly all three versions are missing something. Not once did I mention the missing ingredient. I hope you have been supplying it. While you played these scenarios over in your head did you add your family sitting down together and discussing the day’s events? What worked? What didn’t work?

The family together is the missing and key ingredient. Teaching our children basic manners and conversational skills tends to take place at the dinner table. These skills serve them well as they begin their journey into proper society. As our children mature it becomes even more essential to touch base with them daily, look into their eyes and really see what is happening in their world.

So as you negotiate your busy lives, remember to schedule in some family dinner time. Perhaps it is more important to their future to spend quality time together then that extra sport.

Peace & Light,

Grace