8 Ways to Make Family Meal Time Meaningful

Eating meals together as a family is a wonderful way to bond with your children. A way to reconnect and engage in each other which is a crucial part in raising well-behaved and polite children.

These days, it is difficult to make time for family dinner; between work, after-school activities and household responsibilities, sitting together over a meal is hard. Distractions come in the form of television, phone calls, social networks, and games make sit down dinners hard to bear. It is time to bring back family dinners, traditions, and connections with these 8 things that can make your dinners meaningful.

1.Prep together. Start the meal off right by making the meal together. Engage in light conversation and make sure each child has a task that they would enjoy such as setting the table, stirring the food, or helping pour ingredients. Go as far as letting each child have a turn at picking their favorite dishes for the week. This sets a fun atmosphere for the evening.

2.Table talk. The most important thing to do in order to make your family meal time meaningful is to have an engaging conversation. Ask your children questions such as how they are doing, what they think about a certain subject or political event happening and ensure that their response is listened to. Mealtime is not the greatest time to grill family members over a conflict. This will only make them not want to participate in the conversation. It is easier to get information out of someone during the meal if you make it easy for them to share. Don’t accept one word answers from your children, such as “Fine” when asked about their day. Children will share more about their day or their thoughts when the whole family is given a chance to share with each other.

3.Rose and Thorn. A way to ensure a proper and interesting topic of conversation is held during the meal is to ask your children about the Rose and Thorn of their day. The Rose is the best part of the day and the thorn is the worst. This helps you, as a parent, to get a good view on what makes your children happy and how they are handling problems and challenges.

4.Undivided attention. Please and thank yous. Be sure to set some ground rules for conversations during family meal time. For example, the person that is speaking deserves everyone’s undivided attention. Encourage your children to speak positively about each other and to not bicker or call out each other over the meal. Keep issues from surfacing between everyone. Additionally, meal time is the perfect way to teach your children their manners such as saying please and thank you as well as asking to be excused at the end of the meal.

5.Unplug. Make your meal devise free by turning off the television and any other devices. Don’t answer phone calls or texts and keep your work away from the dinner table. Do nothing except eat and engage in each other, both kids and adults.

6.First priority. Make family dinner a top priority when making plans for the week. Be sure to make them a regular evening event and that everyone knows what time they are. Life is busy and if you can’t find a good time for dinner, try breakfast or lunch instead.

7.Occasions and celebrations. Make every occasion a celebration, such as birthdays, holidays, or small things like a new job or winning an award. Make the birthday celebrant a special breakfast in bed or have them pick their favorite meal for the day. When planning for holidays, allow everyone to pick a meal and help prepare it.

8.Dress it up! Make any meal a special one by dressing up the table. Don’t overdo it; just add a few small touches to make everyday meals unforgettable. Add fresh flowers or a colorful centerpiece. Use matching plates, a table cloth, cloth napkins, and nice cutlery. Light a few of dinner candles, a colorful pillar candle or dainty tea lights to add flair to family dinner time.

Family meal time doesn’t have to be a hassle or a stressful event. Every evening will be interesting and entertaining when families focus on each other and enjoy being with each other.