The Importance Of Family Meals

My children adore eating dinner as a family. We do not have a big enough table for all of us. So here is what we do.

We cook together. Little guys might tear lettuce for a salad, while big guys chop veggies and Brad and I cook the main dish. We set the kids at the table and Brad and I turn the couch to face the table so we can be apart of the discussion. The kids say grace and we eat. While eating we talk about our peaks and pits, one good thing that happened and one bad thing that happened.

Family meals are so important in the age of technology we live in. It's rare to have time where no one has their nose in a screen and we just can sit and talk. We learn so much about our children this way and they learn a lot about us. Our family is no where near perfect but we are super close to our kids and I believe this to be the reason.

Even when we eat meals at someone else's house, they ask to eat together with the other family at their table, which is not always feasible. We do try however. There are so many reasons to do this:

1. Research shows that children are more likely to learn better nutrition this way. Kids are more likely to try their veggies when they see a parent or sibling eating it. It has also been said that families that cook at home have less fried or sugary foods. It is a win-win.

2. I remember reading somewhere that children who eat with their family are more likely to graduate high school.

3. It's just a short period of time to spend time together in this busy world. Take the time to turn off cellphones, TVs and videogames and just enjoy each other. My father in law used to do this at family meals and as a young adult I was rather annoyed by it. But looking back now, he was more right than I knew.