Eat Together

According to The Family Dinner Project, "Sharing a family meal is good for the spirit, the brain and the health of all family members." Eating meals together fosters feelings of belonging and strong family relationships. For those with kids at home, it's also a great opportunity to model etiquette and social skills, and can literally lead to better life outcomes for them, both personally and academically – higher self-esteem, lower rates of risky behavior, and improved vocabulary and verbal communication skills.

 It's not easy to make family dinners a part of your life, but here are some things to consider:

• Two family members eating together is a family meal – if that’s all you can manage on a particular night, it’s still worth doing.

• What you eat is less important than the fact that you’re eating together - nutrition matters, but even if your family dinner is simple or store-bought, it's still worth doing.

• Breakfast and lunch are meals, too - even if you can't make the family meal happen at dinnertime, it's still worth doing!

Once you're sitting down together, make the most of the opportunity to catch up with each other. Avoid conflict-heavy topics of conversation ("Did you do your homework yet?" "Someone forgot to take out the trash today...") and try one of these conversation starters:

• Rose, Thorn, Bud - each person shares a good thing that happened today (rose), a challenge or disappointment they faced (thorn), and something they're looking forward to (bud).

• Bowl 'o' Questions - write questions on slips of paper and put them in a bowl, then pull one out and give everyone a chance to answer. Be creative with your questions: "If you could have any superpower, what would it be?" "If you could invite anyone to dinner with us, who would it be?" "What made you smile today?" Click here if you need some ideas to get you going, there is a great collection of one-line conversation starters.

 We hope you'll make the most of your mealtimes this week, and invite you to share any favorites from your family's Bowl 'o' Questions. Happy eating!