The Dinner Table

We decided a few years ago that we would make sure that we had dinner together at least 5 days a week. At first this was difficult, my husband worked from home at the time and he would get caught up in his work and wouldn't come down and eat with us, either that or I had to work late. And if we did eat together it was in front of the TV on the couch. Not really conducive to talking together.

We recently moved and one of the things we decided was to have dinner together in the evenings. So every night, dinner is made by either myself, my husband or sometimes even my son and we sit down at the table to eat. We say Grace and then have dinner together, we discuss our day and we have actual conversations with our children. We actually find out what some of the problems they are having in school and are able to help them with those problems.

I think this is an integral part of family life, when I was growing up we always had dinner together as a family around the dinner table. We moved away from it when we had our children and our excuse was that our lives were too busy. Well we made a decision that we would make a conscious effort to slow down and spend that time with our children. It is important not just for their well being but for ours to have that time together. Now I am not saying that having dinner together will solve all of your problems, but I think it will help to find solutions to those problems, because you are actually spending time together and talking.

One of the side benefits that we have seen, is that we also get to know our children's friends better. Because our children know they have to be home for dinner, they invite their friends over and they are involved in the discussions also. By knowing your children's friends you are better able to keep a handle on who they are hanging out with and with what type of people.

But I think the best side benefit to having dinner together in the evenings, is getting to know our children on a more personal level. We are able to find out what they like and don't like. What things bother them and things they don't care about. It also helps us to help them grow and get to know us. Since we have started doing this, my children's grades have increased from my son getting D's and F's and the occasional C to getting straight A's. My daughter went from thinking that it was okay to be a C student with the occasional D to also being a straight A student. She now gets upset if she gets a C. By spending time with your children in the evenings, you help them in so many ways. I have just named a couple, but one of the ones you need to think about is that when they are spending time with you, they aren't watching TV or playing video games, and for that reason alone, we will continue to have dinner with our children in the evenings and hope that you do also.
Good luck and remember teenagers can be a joy
Patti