by Patty Gardner
Most families these days struggle to find time to eat dinner, let alone eat dinner together!
Schedules are ridiculously busy and mealtime is often the first thing to go. Dinner ends up being a fast food meal in the car on your way to the next activity.
My family was lucky in that we were able to eat dinner together most nights. I was a stay-at-home-mom and homeschooled my kids. The kids weren’t involved in a lot of outside activities, and what they were involved in usually took place during the day. My husband worked days and was home for dinner every night.
Mealtime for us was the highlight of the day. My husband was home and we all sat together at the table, ate a good meal, and talked about our day. We did most of our laughing and talking at the dinner table. Lots of laughing. I have great memories of those times and so do my kids.
Things are different now. The kids are grown and gone and it’s just my husband and me. But we still sit at the dining room table and eat dinner together most nights. I’ll admit that we do occasionally watch tv while we eat but most of the time we’re at the table. It’s a great opportunity to enjoy quiet and have each other’s undivided attention.
So is family dinner a thing of the past? With so many activities and such full schedules, is it no longer possible? Maybe it can’t be done every night, but I’m not ready to give up on it. If you don’t want to give up either, here are some ways to still have family dinner:
1. This sounds heartless, but don’t cancel family dinner just because some of your family members aren’t there. Schedule dinner and eat with whoever is home. It’s tempting to pass on dinner at the table if part of the family is absent but don’t do it. Who knows, sitting at the table with even as few as two of you may result in some awesome conversation you wouldn’t have had if you’d gone your separate ways.
2. Take advantage of the opportunities you have. If everyone’s home but you don’t have a meal planned, don’t plate and scatter. Have everyone make their food and bring it to the table. Make sitting at the table the place to be!
3. If you do end up eating in front of the tv, like during a football game or the Olympics, try to make it special. For example, if you have a coffee table, put a table cloth on it and sit around the coffee table. Or move the table and spread out a blanket and have a picnic. Or have special trays you use when eating in the living room. Just do something to make it more than just sitting in front of the tv eating your food.
4. If you’re out and about, don’t always rely on the drive-thru for your dinner. Invest in a picnic set and bring food from home. Stop at a park and eat dinner. Or take homemade food to a sports practice and eat on paper plates in the bleachers. Even though it’s not dinner at the table, it’s still special and you’re together!
5. This is drastic, but perhaps your schedules can be rearranged so that you have at least a couple of nights at home. This isn’t always possible, but if it is, it’s worth doing.
It makes me sad to think that family dinners are a thing of the past. But maybe they don’t have to be. Let’s all do our part and bring them back, at least some of the time!
Does your family eat dinner together? How do you make it happen?
Be sure and visit Patty over at Homemakers Daily. She always has an endless supply of practical tips for making home life less stressful and more satisfying!
16 Comments
Patty you confused me until I got down here…I didn’t notice the name, I was thinking, how are the kids gone….
Ok so anyway, love the tips! I love eating as a family. We did it often when I was growing up. As adults we eat dinner after church together every Sunday at the same restaurant everything else is hit or miss. When we do sit down though it’s most relaxing.
I think #1 is *so* true. It does feel strange, but you might as well at least hit the family dinner with the people who are there. At least those there can connect! –Lisa
We eat dinner as a family with whoever is home. Sports schedules don’t always allow us to all be together but we do the best we can, and it works out just fine. We’re probably all together twice a week!
That sounds great and that’s exactly what I’m talking about!
These are really great tips. Occasionally, my hubby works late and I sit at the table with the 2 little ones. It’s such a precious time for me. I do prefer everyone, but it’s not always possible. We’ve skipped the whole dinner together at times also. I love the picnic idea.
I can picture you sitting at the table with the 2 little ones. It’s a fun time, isn’t it?! I eat lunch frequently with my daughter-in-law (she lives across the street) and the grandkids (3-1/2 and 2) and it’s always hysterical. Kids are just so funny and so talkative at the dinner table. When families don’t eat together at least sometimes they miss a lot of fun.
I grew up as one of five kids and one thing was for certain – we all seven ate dinner together at 6:00 on the dot! I guess around high school it changed a bit but my parents still sat down with whoever was there. It was special. My family is on a weird schedule these days. The youngest is a baby and just getting into solids. My husband never gets home at the same time. Can be 5:00 pm. Can be 9:00 pm. And the kids can’t wait. I hope we get into a rhythm soon because it was so memorable in my childhood.
That does sound like a tough schedule. But it probably won’t always be that way so if you can’t eat together now, maybe you’ll be able to soon.
Sounds like a great childhood.
This was just the reminder (kick in the pants) I needed. We go back and forth on family dinners, but I love when we have them and agree that every member doesn’t need to be there for it to be worthwhile.
Agreed. Sometimes the ones who are there appreciate the extra attention anyway. I had one kid who was a talker and another who was a talker, also. They kind of liked it when it was just us and them (either of them) so they could talk MORE!
I have definitely slacked on this… I need to focus more on getting us together for a meal- even if the meal is a quick one!!! Thanks for this reminder. 🙂
You’re welcome. It’s easy to let it slide but so worth the effort to make it happen – even a few times a week.
It’s the one rule at our house…. we eat as a family. Period. If you’re mad, you still come to the table. If you’re not hungry or already ate somewhere else, you still come to the table. 🙂 I’m always saddened by kids that eat in front of the TV alone. Eating as a family doesn’t mean you have to cook some elaborate meal… but together.. it’s soooo important!!!
I so agree, Heather. Great rules you have.
I have got to get back to doing this. I know how important it is but this is one thing that is hurting in our family life. I hate that practices and games are always right in the middle of when dinner should be. If we try and do it before, not everyone is home. If we do it after, we are eating at 9:00pm. I like what you said about doing it with who is there. So often, I feel like I am failing since we aren’t ALL there. Great tips that I am going to start using!
Yes, our society doesn’t make it easy to have dinner together as a family. So getting creative sometimes is a necessity!