Between after-school activities, work and household chores, scheduling family dinner time can feel like a challenge. With the rise of fast-food restaurants and microwavable meals, it’s tempting to eat something quick while multitasking. Yet, when you skip family dinner, what essential benefits are you missing?
Keep reading to learn seven reasons why family dinner time is so important and how you can prioritize it during your busy schedule.
1. Strengthens Family Bonds
When you eat dinner with your family, you have a chance to connect and bond. You focus on having genuine conversations rather than being distracted by a phone or TV screen. These precious moments will bring your family closer together.
When you have dinner collectively, you have the opportunity to act as a role model for your kids and influence them through positive interaction. Remember to keep your smartphones away from the table, because they reduce a person’s ability to focus and cause distractions.
2. Encourages Healthy Communication
Mealtime provides the opportunity to sit back, relax and enjoy pleasant conversation. Everyone needs to take a break from distractions and stresses. Even if it lasts only 30 minutes, family dinner time provides the opportunity to talk about how the day went. Your youngsters will feel happier and do better at school, compared to their counterparts who do not have family time.
Speaking with adults, builds a child’s self-confidence and teaches them how to act in mature situations. At dinner they are learning how to prepare for the real world. If there’s a disagreement, your conversations may even prompt lessons on healthy conflict resolution. Learning constructive conflict resolution skills will help your kids resolve complicated situations in the future.
3. Promotes Developmental Learning
The dining table provides an excellent stage for telling stories, offering advice and being creative. For young children, dinner conversations can be a better vocabulary builder than reading. In turn, this will help them to do better in school. These dinner discussions can teach your kids resilience and promote adaptability.
When you don’t prioritize time together you have fewer chances to act as a role model. Teens who have infrequent family dinners are nearly twice as likely to use tobacco and alcohol.
4. Teaches Responsibility
When you prepare a meal for dinner you are in a unique position to teach your kids responsibility. You can ask them to assist you in the kitchen or set the table. Your youngsters will be excited by the opportunity to participate. Who knows, you may even have a budding chef in your family!
If you’d like, you can even put them in charge of decorating to give the dining area a restaurant feel. They can show off their unique style and practice formally dressing the table.
5. Prioritizes Nutrition
When you eat dinner as a family, you’re more likely to create a thoughtful meal and prioritize nutrition. You may decide to have fried foods, but you’ll also include portions of fruits and vegetables. Healthy eating is crucial to a child’s physical development and well-being.
In the U.S. obesity affects 18.5% of children two to 19 years old. Choosing healthier foods and increasing physical activity can be effective obesity prevention strategies. As a parent, dinnertime also provides you the opportunity to stress how important a healthy diet is to your child’s success.
6. Saves Money
Eating meals at home saves money and helps you stick to a budget. On average it’s five times less expensive to cook at home then go to a restaurant. If you’re craving restaurant quality food then you can save money by ordering take-out. You’ll enjoy the same delicious dishes without needing to pay a premium on drinks and tipping.
7. Improves Mental Health
Spending time with family provides a healthy solution for stress management. You strengthen emotional bonds which encourages problem-solving if stress arises. Your children will know that they can talk to you if they are struggling with something rather than finding unhealthy outlets.
How Can You Prioritize Family Dinner Time?
To prioritize family dinner time, the first step is to plan ahead. You still have other responsibilities and activities creating a busy schedule, so focus on choosing a time at the beginning of the week. Make sure everyone is aware of the commitment, so that they can carve out the time in their own schedules. If you create a consistent routine, it will be easier to block out a regular chunk of time.
Consider meal prepping to minimize the time you’ll need to commit to making the food each day. You can also order out occasionally from your favorite restaurant. Involve your entire household by asking for their opinion and sharing the responsibilities. Your kids may want to volunteer to create part of the meal. At a minimum, everyone will appreciate having a say in the decision.
It’s your responsibility to prioritize family dinner so remember to leave work behind at the office and make time for these special opportunities.
Start Planning Your Next Family Meal
Reflect on these seven reasons why family dinner time is so important. What can you do to make this a part of your routine? Remember to consider everyone’s food preferences to ensure happy and willing participants. If dinner is an impossible time because of other commitments, consider having a late lunch together or even breakfast. The key is prioritizing time with your family. Ultimately, you’ll be creating a tradition for your children to carry on for generations to come.
