Serve Successful Family Dinners

Having dinner together as a family is one of the most important things you can do. There are all sorts of studies showing the benefits of family dinner time. It improves your family's health- mentally, emotionally, and physically. Kids are less likely to be overweight, kids develop better vocabulary, parents are more in touch with their kids, all family members are happier... the list goes on and on!

It seems like dinner time used to be a priority. Nowadays, there are lot of competing activities. Sports, work, clubs, schedules... lots of things try to steal time away from dinner. Even if you can only sit down as a family 3 times a week- it is SO WORTH IT. Even if you didn't make dinner at home: drive thru and bring it home to the table; go into the restaurant and sit down to eat- it is SO WORTH IT.

I cannot stress enough how important this practice is to the health of your family.

In our house, we make it a priority to sit down together 6 nights a week. This doesn't mean I cook 6 nights a week. We might be having leftovers or takeout, but we sit down at the same time and everyone eats their meal together. Here are some of my tips for making family meal time a success:

1. Don't talk about food. Seems odd since you're eating, but this is a great time to talk about anything. Why bother discussing how fluffy the potatoes are? You will actually eat slower and eat less (aka: not overeat) if you are carrying on interesting not-food-related conversation.
2. Eat "family style". 4 out of the 6 nights we sit down together, I put all the food out on the table. This way no one has to get up for seconds, but it also encourages picky eaters to try new things because they are exposed to the foods more often.
3. Turn off technology. It only takes 20-30 minutes to eat a meal. Everyone can go without cell phones, tvs, tablets, and anything else that distracts from the conversation. This is a time to connect with family, not with wifi.
4. Don't get up until everyone is finished eating. Sometimes this is hard with kids who eat really slow. But, for the most part, everyone should be feeling full and finished eating after 20-30 minutes. Stay at the table and enjoy the company. Stick around, it sends the message that you really are interested in your family and not just going through the motions.

Family dinners are my favorite time of the day. I can hear all about what my kids are thinking and doing. Everyone slows down and sits semi-still. It's so enjoyable, I wouldn't trade it for anything!

What's your favorite thing about eating as a family? We'd love to hear from you!