Parents Talk: Eating Together as a Family

As I have started signing my five-year-old up for extracurricular activities such as swimming lessons, gymnastics and figure skating, it is common to hear spectator parents telling each other that they rushed right over to the activity after work and just didn’t have the time to make a proper dinner.

“We’re going to sneak over to that corner and have PB&Js before we head to Boy Scouts” or “We pulled through a drive-thru window quick before we got here.”

I’m in the same boat. Although I’d prefer it happened every day, I don’t always have time to make a delicious and nutritious dinner to fuel the bodies of my family while we sit around the table telling our favorite things about the day.

And because many families have this issue, the National Center for Addiction and Substance Abuse has named Monday, Sept. 26 Family Day: A Day to Eat With Your Family. According to the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, whether you’re cooking a gourmet meal or ordering take-out, what your kids really want during dinnertime is you. Family meals are the perfect time to talk to your kids and to listen to what’s on their mind. The more often kids eat dinner with their families, the less likely they are to smoke, drink or use drugs.

Beyond promoting balance and variety in kids' diets, eating meals together is when a family builds its identity and culture, according to an article in Time Magazine. Mealtime can also be learning time: Legends are passed down, jokes are told and family values are discussed. Younger kids pick up vocabulary and a sense of how conversation is structured.

But obviously like so many other things in life, putting it into practice is easier said than done.