The Family Dinner: Bring It Back

In our house we have a family dinner usually 5 nights a week.

Thursday night I am usually cooking and getting ready for the Jewish Sabbath so I throw a pizza pie on the table and whenever the kids walk in the door they grab a slice. Usually there is one other night a week my husband works late or one of my kids has some extra curricular activity.

We have always tried to make family dinner a high priority. When my husband was growing up his family always had dinner together. For him it was a no-brainer.

I am sure  by now we have all read about the benefits of family dinner:

  • Everyone eats healthier meals.
  • Kids are less likely to become overweight or obese.
  • Kids more likely to stay away from cigarettes.
  • They’re less likely to drink alcohol.
  • They won’t likely try marijuana.
  • They’re less likely to use illicit drugs.
  • Friends won’t likely abuse prescription drugs.
  • School grades will be better.
  • You and your kids will talk more.
  • You’ll be more likely to hear about a serious problem.
  • Kids will feel like you’re proud of them.
  • There will be less stress and tension at home.

I always like to imagine calling my kids into dinner like this:”Hurry up you don’t want to miss dinner. You don’t want to be at risk for smoking pot, doing drugs and childhood obesity…”

But seriously,   I am open with my kids and periodically tell them, “I am so glad we eat dinner together, all the studies show that kids are less likely to do drugs, be obese, and drink alcohol. It is also a great way for our family to connect at the end of the day.”

Baseball season is coming up and I know that at least one of my sons is going to miss family dinner once a week. Sometimes I wish that our society placed more value on family dinner instead of extracurricular activities. I think the leagues should take dinner into account. I think scheduling for games should look a lot different. Maybe one day…

Let’s hear what you think:

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Adina

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