Sometimes dinner time feels a bit like I am running a race. It is the time of day when everyone needs mom. By the time dinner has been cooked and the family is in the kitchen, I try to get everyone fed as quickly as possible. I often don’t even sit down. I feed everyone at the bar that faces the kitchen. While I am trying to eat, I am filling water glasses, grabbing napkins and anything else that is needed of me. I really am not a fan of dinner time.
Last week, when weather was nice, I felt I needed to set the table properly and eat around our table. I enlisted everyone to help. One child got the silverware, another brought the food and napkins to the table and I filled a pitcher full of water. When the food was ready, we all sat down, said a prayer and ate together. We laughed, we talked and we were able to look at each others faces. It was delightful!
I have always been a big believer in eating dinner as a family and while we had been doing that, it just wasn’t around the table. I realized that everyone can help and they enjoy helping. It was fun for them. I also enjoyed feeling like I was part of the family, rather then just the cook.
Wonderful memories can be made around the table. It is the perfect time to ask your children about their day, ask how they are feeling about whatever activities and classes they are involved in, and even discuss current events.
In the world we live in today, we are constantly pulled in hundreds of different directions. The computer, our cell phones, outside activities and work scream to us to spend more time outside of the home. Let’s all make it a habit to take meal time as the time of day to turn off the cell phones, turn off the television and reconnect with our families. Our children and families are the most important part of our lives. Let’s all ‘take a little time’ to gather around the table and reconnect with our children!!
Here are a few fun questions you could use to get conversation going with your children around the table.
- What was the happiest part of your day today?
-If you had three wishes what would they be?
-What is your favorite time of day?
-Do you have a friend or teacher who really inspires you right now?
-What would be your dream job?
These are just a few ideas to make lots of happy memories around the dinner table.
What’s the question that helps you reconnect with your family? Please share in the comments below.
Tags: family dinner, Heidi Russell, how to find time to eat dinner as a family, onslow memorial hospital, tweens
I like asking the girls,
-What is something you did for someone else today?
-What was your high moment and low moment for the day?
We also love using the conversation cards with hundreds of ideas, like tonight’s question…
-If money were no object, what kind of party would you throw and where would you have it.
Their answers surprised me- Family reunions, in various places.