"The dinner table is the centre for the teaching and practicing not just of table manners but of conversation, consideration, tolerance, family feeling, and just about all other accomplishments of polite society except the minuet." - Judith Martin
In fact, regular family dinners have been shown to reduce obesity, improve nutrition, open the lines of communication in a family and improve childrens behaviour and long term "life" outcomes.
In our house, as of late, family dinner has been an oasis of normal in the desert of renovation and "new baby" chaos. When everything seemed to falling apart after the birth of our sweet little Pippa, we decided that the first step back to us would be the re-instatement of routine....and what better, more predictable, comforting routine is there than that of the family dinner?
Family dinner has been saving us. Despite the outcome of the day, regardless of the fatigue or lunches on-the-go or tantrums or house frustrations, we convene every evening at the dinner table to eat and talk and re-group.
I've been using one of my all time favorite books, my bible in fact, to help remind me of the importance of this habitual and expected daily ritual. The Family Dinner by Laurie David has a special place on my bookshelf, now and for many years to come.
The Family Dinner teaches that regular family meals (whether it's dinner, lunch or breakfast) are about more than just food on the table. With a bit of time, creativity and intention, family dinner can become the framework within which all members of the family learn to communicate, share and grow.
"....Children who have regular family dinners together with their parents do better in almost all areas of life, from higher grades in school, to maintaining loving relationships, to staying healthy, safe and out of trouble. Family meals have more to do with adolescents self-esteem, confidence and other positive outcomes than do income levels, after-school activities, family structure (one parent or two), or regular attendance at church." - Laurie David, The Family Dinner
Kind of obvious, kind of mind-blowing. A really interesting and forgotten fact in the modern, over-scheduled, highly-ambitious parenting styles which are encouraged today.....I think.
There so much to talk about. So many different, important and fun ways to make family dinner count, night after night. I'm hoping to make "Family Dinner" a regular topic of discussion on this blog. Everything from table setting, to meal ideas, to conversation starters and dinner games. I'll talk about what's working for us...and not working for us....and how we make dinner a priority with our hectic schedules and busy lives.
Where to begin? Where to begin? With the rules, I think! The Dinner Rules. Hard core rules.
We don't actually have a lot of "rules" in this house, so when I typed up, printed and posted dinner rules, it was a bit surprising for all.....I think that in itself really captured the family's attention. The rules originally came from The Family Dinner.....we have since personalized them and adopted them as law in our home. Each rule has purpose (which we can explore later) and the results have been truly amazing!
The Rules infuse our family dinners with that, all important, intention I mentioned above. The rules take "dinner" and turn it into an opportunity to share healthy food, conversation, responsibility and fun.
Here are our rules:
Everyone helps set-up, everyone helps clean up....one of my most favorite rules!
......Tinkerbell does the dishes.
The Family Dinner teaches that regular family meals (whether it's dinner, lunch or breakfast) are about more than just food on the table. With a bit of time, creativity and intention, family dinner can become the framework within which all members of the family learn to communicate, share and grow.
"....Children who have regular family dinners together with their parents do better in almost all areas of life, from higher grades in school, to maintaining loving relationships, to staying healthy, safe and out of trouble. Family meals have more to do with adolescents self-esteem, confidence and other positive outcomes than do income levels, after-school activities, family structure (one parent or two), or regular attendance at church." - Laurie David, The Family Dinner
Kind of obvious, kind of mind-blowing. A really interesting and forgotten fact in the modern, over-scheduled, highly-ambitious parenting styles which are encouraged today.....I think.
There so much to talk about. So many different, important and fun ways to make family dinner count, night after night. I'm hoping to make "Family Dinner" a regular topic of discussion on this blog. Everything from table setting, to meal ideas, to conversation starters and dinner games. I'll talk about what's working for us...and not working for us....and how we make dinner a priority with our hectic schedules and busy lives.
Where to begin? Where to begin? With the rules, I think! The Dinner Rules. Hard core rules.
We don't actually have a lot of "rules" in this house, so when I typed up, printed and posted dinner rules, it was a bit surprising for all.....I think that in itself really captured the family's attention. The rules originally came from The Family Dinner.....we have since personalized them and adopted them as law in our home. Each rule has purpose (which we can explore later) and the results have been truly amazing!
The Rules infuse our family dinners with that, all important, intention I mentioned above. The rules take "dinner" and turn it into an opportunity to share healthy food, conversation, responsibility and fun.
Here are our rules:
Everyone helps set-up, everyone helps clean up....one of my most favorite rules!
Happy Sunday!
hi there!
ReplyDeletei love the rules for family dinner. i think i will have to do up my own for our family!
great blog!
I love this. We are struggling with meal time! I'm going to give it a try.
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