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Dining with the Kids-The Importance of eating with your childrenI grew up in a bit of an old fashioned family setting. We went on summer vacations as a family, celebrated the holidays at home and always, always ate meals together. Even when I would miss a family meal because of my after school activities, a plate would be saved and either my Mom or Dad would sit with me at the table while I ate. The TV was never on during meals, hats were off and manners were adhered to. That's just the way it was. Nowadays, that cant be said for many families.... Between the multitude of after school activities, parents working late or multiple jobs and a lack of desire for family meal time, the days of sitting around the table chatting it up with the kids are fading. Research shows that families who eat together reap a multitude of benefits. Communication skills are enhanced. Even at a very young age, kids benefit from having a time that they know they have their parents attention and a spotlight to talk about whatever they want. There has been research suggesting that kids who eat meals with their parent(s) do better in school and are less likely to do drugs and drink alcohol in excess. When families eat together it is more likely those meals will be nutritious and even made by the kids as they get older teaching them about good food benefits and obesity. In my opinion, there are more reasons why eating together is beneficial than there are obstacles to getting the family all together. Set a time for dinner, schedule a weekly menu, ask the kids for help making dinner and setting the table, keep the conversation light and enjoy! I even light the candles on the table...the kids love it! For additional information about the benefits of family meals check out www.mealsmatter.org. They also have some fun recipes. If you have family meals success stories and recipes, please share them with us too!
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Yes!
We're a family that also makes the time and effort to eat together each day. It's an art that is dying. I love that we round robin and hear about the things that are going on in our kids' lives, and they know that we're interested and on top of what is going on! Now we even have neighbor kids that join in, and have told their own parents that they "wish" for more family time of their own. It is a great way to impress your love upon your children. SA Mommy
Family meal
Meals are important to us too but I often have trouble getting everyone to the table at the same time. We were trying to have everyone talk about their days but my kids don't always want to participate. Recently, I've started reading stories at the table. The stories give the kids something to listen to and something to talk about. They seem to enjoy talking about the books instead of talking about themselves. Two weeks ago I checked out a book on Lincoln and read it to the kids over several days. It was a beginner chapter book so it had short sentences and easy to follow text. It was fun to compare Lincoln's childhood to ours. He helped build their house, which was smaller than ours. He also had to work to help support his family so he couldn't always go to school. We have more toys and conveniences. We don't grow our own food or read by candlelight. But we can talk about it and I like your idea of eating by candlelight.
Great idea
Reading to your kids at dinner is a great idea. We have only ever served lunch and dinner at the table and since my parents were very strict about that, it is all I know. Abby has to asked to be excused before she can leave the table. Sam is still very little so we let him leave after he is all done and then ask him to bring us various toys and books so we can linger which we love to do. Sometimes we end up at the table long after the food is gone but by then the paper and markers have come out, etc. My husband and I like to sit with out wine and chat. I remember times when my own Father and I sat for hours talking at the table. My brothers thought it was a clever way to get out of doing the dishes...maybe. :-)