It seems like, in today’s modern society, creating the opportunity for quality family time is becoming a bigger and bigger challenge. Children are engaged in more extracurricular activities than ever before, and coordinating schedules between an entire family hasn’t ever been exactly easy.
Though carving out family time is certainly easier said than done, the way to start is simple. Share a good meal. Family dinners are an opportunity to catch up with each other’s busy lives, and they also give us the opportunity (and excuse) to enjoy delicious food together. What’s not to love about that?
Here are a few of our best pieces of advice for actually making it happen:
Plan Mouth Watering Meals
Food is more than a means to an end. It’s something people can bond over. Though family dinners don’t need to be extravagant by any means, it’s helpful to plan meals that everyone will look forward to. You might even consider taking recipe requests from your different family members. Generating a little excitement over dinner never hurts, and it can encourage everyone to join in, instead of making other plans.
Be Efficient
Because people’s schedules tend to be so busy nowadays, you may want to plan meals that take just a short time to prepare (but that of course still fit the mouth watering quality described above). Something as simple as Zweigle’s Chicken Sausage can easily be incorporated into a delicious pasta dish. The recipe itself wouldn’t take long to make, and yet your family members are still bound to enjoy the flavorful creation.
Make it a Date
It may not be feasible to have a family dinner every night of the week due to different schedules, but you can set certain days of the week that you all plan to eat as a family. Planning ahead of time helps make sitting down together and enjoying a meal more realistic, because people will be able to arrange their schedules and avoid any conflicts.
Nix Distractions
Once you’ve got your family dinner in motion, you may find it helpful to nix distractions and ditch the technology. Try turning off the tv, and put all of your phones in the middle of the table. The first person to touch theirs has to do the dishes!
Do you have family dinners? How to do you make it work with busy schedules?
