Here in 2020 we find ourselves with LOTS more time at home and that means more family meal time! Whether you like it or not, there are more dishes and more meals to be eaten inside your own home. That can be overwhelming for families, because lots of people are seeing an increase in grocery spending and trying to figure out how to cook/prepare food. Even some food prices have increased and that has bumped up grocery budgets.
So what does this mean for you as a parent in regards to family meal time? Have you felt additional pressure to cook and sit down to eat together? Have you felt at a lost and frustrated by always feeling like a chef + all your other responsibilities? I am right there with ya. Some days I felt like I spent my entire day preparing meals and snacks for my family.
I wanted to provide you with some information to help encourage you that this time and effort you are spending in the kitchen is worth it! There have been a variety of studies done looking at family meal times and behavioral outcomes in children. An article in JAMA looked at adolescents while making good life choices (avoiding tobacco, drugs, alcohol) and correlation with those behaviors and family meal time. This article found that families who ate together more often had an inverse relationship with adolescents participating in those questionable behaviors (using tobacco, drugs, alcohol). So eating together meant these youth didn’t participate as much in smoking, drug abuse, etc activities. Other studies have shown that family meal times increase consumption of healthier food items (like fruits and vegetables) for the parents and children. These families also have a more positive outlook on life and more positive self esteem, which is an interesting finding. This article from the New York Times provides some great encouragement for sitting down together as a family at the dinner table. For teens, the more often they are able to sit down with their parents, this provides additional opportunities for communication and building relationships. I know this even holds true for my 3 year old, he loves to sit down and tell me about his day. We tend to do talk more around the dinner table and it is his chance to talk and just be the center of our undistracted attention.
Family Meal Tips
Write Out a Meal Plan: It is often tough each night to stress about what you have in your pantry and what you are doing to prepare. Taking a moment to write down some ideas of what you want to cook will help throughout the week when it comes time to cook. You can use this meal plan list to help create a shopping list and then also cross off meals as you make them throughout the week.
Incorporate Your Family (in food preparation and clean up): I need to get better about this, but I often try to do it all on my own. My 3 year old loves to help, but he often makes a mess and that makes more work for me, but I am going to work to have him help more. It is important to have him involved so that he learns and then appreciates the hard work that goes into cooking for a family. Sometimes I put off cleaning up from dinner, because I value having time to play with my kids and get them ready for bed, that’s ok too. Find a routine that works for your family where everyone helps and contributes.
Branch Out of Your Comfort Zone: Try new recipes and new foods! Pinterest is amazing for recipes and you can find any recipe online. Try to push yourself outside your comfort zone and add 1 new recipe to your weekly menu. Save that recipe and if you end up liking it you can add it to your meal rotation.
Stimulating Conversation: Take this time to sit down together and talk. Discuss upcoming things you want to do together as a family, how your day was, things that you are worried about or things that make you happy. Find the positive to all this time together and get to know your family better.
Trying to look at the positive side of this pandemic is an opportunity to bond and build closer relationships with our family. That time together around the dinner table is priceless and won’t last forever. Savor those moments, don’t get too upset about all the cooking and cleaning and be present with your family in the moment.
