There have been numerous studies that suggest sitting down together as a family at dinner time is very beneficial and helps to strengthen families. There are several resources like here and here that give specific benefits that result from eating together as a family.
This is something that I absolutely believe to be true. I really try to make sure that my family sits down and enjoy our meals together. Some days this is harder than others. But it is important to make this a number one priority.
Your meals do not need to be 3 course or really fancy. Sometimes we just eat something really simple, or on really busy days, I throw something in the crock pot and let it cook all day so all I have to do is set the table at dinner time. Even ordering take-out and sitting together at the table can count as a family dinner. It doesn’t matter what, but that you are eating together.
We try to have dinner on the table at the same time each day. This works pretty well most nights. Sometimes we have to make adjustments due to a sport or school activity. The improtant thing is consistency.
We also have some dinner table rules where no distractions are allowed. For example…No answering the phone, watching TV or texting, reading, etc. Then we eat AND talk! We used to have each child take turns sharing with us what happened to them during the day, but then we started getting some of the same answers every night (do you know what I mean? :)!
Then for Christmas, my friend gave us a set of prepared questions for dinnertime duscussions. We keep them in a jar by the dinner table. Now, each night we take turns pulling out a question and talking about it. It has been so much fun. We have really expanded the things we talk about and are learning new things about each other we otherwise would not have learned.
Some examples of the questions we have already answered are:
What would you spend $100 dollars on today if you could?
What was your last dream that you remember?
What animal would you be and why?
What superhero power do you wish you could have and why?
What was your favorite present ever?
What icecream flavor would you invent?
The possiblilities are endless. All you need to do is come up with a list of questions and then be amazed at all the fun things you will get to learn about each other. Sometimes we can sit and talk about something for quite a while before anyone asks to be excused from the table. It really doesn’t matter what the questions are…the point is to get you talking and listening to one another. Sometimes we answer more than one question and sometimes one question will spark a big discussion that lasts the whole time we are eating. It has been fun and relaxing and has taken some of the pressure off of some of our past dinnertime struggles.
Go ahead and give it a try. I really think this will be something you LOVE doing as a family.
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jenjen says
Yes, I so agree! My friend gave me a box of dinnertime conversation starters. We have had a wonderful time using them!
XOOX
Jen
We do the same. Dinnertime Conversation is such a sweet time with our family, and when we get the opportunity to have guests at our dinner table I am usually so proud of how my little ones can carry on conversations. :) Looking forward to seeing your "jar of topics".
Blessings!
-Sarah
Dinnertime is the time when our family ends up in hysterics – a great way to end the day!
i agree! i am working on getting some of our favorite family meal recipes up on my blog:)
We each have to say one good and one bad thing in our day. The older kids pretend to talk for the baby. "My worst part of the day was pooping in my diaper and my best part was eating." They come up with some funny stuff for him.
I love this idea! I just became an "empty nester" and am kinda scared and nervous wondering what my DH and I will have to talk about now… seems like the kids were always the center of our conversations. I think you have given me a great idea!
We actually have a box called "Dinner Games – for beginners" that my MIL bought us for christmas. There are different levels for different ages.
We just love it! It's full of cards with either questions to ask, mysteries to figure out and simple table-time games. Joanna
Here's the website:
http://www.familydinnergames.com
I LOVE that you cover topics like this! I am a huge fan of family dinner time. I am lucky that I have a husband who is consistantly off work at the same time each day and we also have a set time to eat. Agreed, no toys or other things at the table. We got the idea from my friend Emily to do Rose, Bud, and Thorn (and we added seed to go with the plant theme). For Rose each person mentions something good or fun that happened that day. For Thorn they mention something they felt sad about or saw something sad that happened to another. For Bud it is what they are looking forwrad to tomorrow. Seed of service is how they served or helped someone that day. It is nice, especially for the kids to hear about our days (as parents) and realize we have frustrations as well. It also gets us to think about how the little things we do like smile or wave is a form of service.
My family always ate together too, with the same dinner rules. Except, since we were a musical family, one of the rules was NO SINGING or USING YOUR UTENSILS AS DRUMSTICKS at the table. Ha ha ha! Even now as a grown adult I catch myself singing at the table and immediately stop. Oops!
love this…we do a lot of this as a family…makes all the difference.
Thank you so much for reminding me how important family dinner time is. Lately we have been getting out of the habit and I recognize we need to start it up again. Thanks!
If anyone is like me and coming up with questions is not the easiest thing in the world, there is a website called, howdoesshe.com and it has 4 different dinner question downloadables.
Thanks for posting all your great ideas! I love looking at your site.
We use Table Topics and Family Fun Time Dinner Games from
http://www.twosistersshop.com.
My kids love them!
great ideas! One question we ask is this:
What is the best thing that happened today at school?
The reason is simple. So many kids/teens relay the negative aspects of their day, this helps them cut through all that and focus on the positive.
They LOVE this. We change it up in summer and to fit situations, etc.
Thank you! I am giving a talk on family fun and activities and I am going to include your great idea! Thanks :)