Eating Together: a Family Anchor
Time To Bring Back The Family Dinner Table
Rushing between errands, chores, appointments, long work hours, and time lost in front of various screens – all these are distancing us from the times (not so long ago) when families sat down each day around the dinner table for an hour of focused conversation and eating together. With all the running around modern families do today many of us haven’t even stopped to think about what we’re losing by sacrificing time together at the dinner table.
At a time when labor and technology blurs the boundaries of leisure time devoted to family, dinner is a chance to create a shared discourse around the table. Have you ever tried to get your child to answer the question “How was your day?” with more detail than just a shoulder shrug and the words ‘OK’? It turns out that time around the family dinner table has a much higher success rate for getting kids talking, even with the most silent teenagers.
Sitting down to a meal together is an opportunity for the family to be together “in the moment” and engage with one another. The conversations that happen around the table may be seemingly insignificant at the time but as children this is the learning ground for sharing how to carry on “grown-up conversations” sharing thoughts and ideas as well as developing and practicing social manners.
Many studies have already shown that regular family meals are an important element in creating good relations within the family unit. It’s an anchor that strengthens family ties, establishes good eating habits, table manners, and encourages a healthy lifestyle. Studies have even shown that children in families who adhere to the practice of eating together exhibit more confidence and better grades in school.
Meals don’t need to be fancy or formal to reap these benefits. More important is establishing a regular routine that works for your particular family situation. It doesn’t need to happen every day either, when done at least once a week it forms a predictable habit family members can look forward to and creates a family tradition that contributes to positive lifelong memories.
Families are encouraged to make time and create opportunities to sit down together for family dinners. Although it takes determination, dedication, and perseverance, it’s a relatively simple activity that goes far beyond the advantage of a single day.
What others have to say about the importance of eating family meals together:
“It’s a chance to connect and to share and to be together in nourishment.” – Keith Glendon
“Upon asking my 8 year old this question she said, ‘Dinnertime is my favorite part of the day because I get to spend time with my family.’ I agree with her, it is a time we can all connect while eating good food. We lead busy lives, but have made eating together a top priority and all share a meal at least 5 days a week.” – Christa Bartley
“The reconnecting that occurs around the dinner table is invaluable. While not every dinner results in an epiphany, the bonds that are enforced are precious.” – Brenda Smith Stacey
“Our family is small but we we eat dinner together everyday, except Sunday. Sunday we eat with our extended family. There are some days when we are not able to do so and But for the most part we stick to it. It’s just time to be together and share our lives. We have also banned electronics from the table, which is a big help.” – Robin Harrington-Galloway
“Only now do I appreciate the importance my father placed on the family dinner. It was the only time we would be together and I have some of my fondest memories from that table” – Paul Neumann
“My hubby works second shift right now so week days it’s me and the boys at the kitchen counter. On weekends we try to eat as a family at the dinner table as much as possible since it is one of the only times we all get to spend together.” – Dee Dane
“Eating dinner together is a way for our family to appreciate the foods that we have grown, produced, processed and prepared together. A family meal completes the farm to fork experience, as it gives us a chance to talk about the foods we are eating. It happens often here, as proper nutrition is something we are passionate about.” – Randy Buchler
“We eat dinner together almost every night. We also work together to prepare it most nights. We make our food from scratch and nearly never eat prepared food (unless put up in the fall/summer). At this point, this has become routine.” – Erin Leahy Putvin
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