Family dinners are so important for connection and conversation time but tricky to plan. Tips gathered to help make dinner meal plan time simpler.
I asked, and you all delivered! You can view the comments on this Instagram post about Family Dinners, but I also created a quick printable page so you can review them in one spot and discuss with your family what you’d like to try to incorporate!
I made a Google Doc with all of the suggestions, deleting duplicates, and we’ve got over 100 ideas!
Look over the list, print it off, cross off what you’d never make, and google or search on Pinterest something that looks interesting but you need a recipe!
CHECK OUT THE DINNER IDEAS LIST HERE
The most important tip I can offer is to MEAL PLAN!!! I do this every Sunday afternoon. I pull out my clipboard of 30 favorite meals, and decide what I want to make that week. I’ll consult my kids sometimes, but often just do it on my own. I think add to cart on my Walmart phone app, and schedule the deliver for the next day!
Picture this: It’s 5 PM on a Wednesday night, you’ve been running around frantic all day, and as you’re helping one child with homework, another child comes up to you in a whiny voice and says, “Mom, what’s for dinner? I’m starving!”
You feel that exasperated feeling, because you have no idea! You want to sit together with your family, you know it’s well-connected time, but you then scramble in the fridge trying to pull together some thing that looks like a semblance of a meal.
Have you been there?! I have!
It’s now forbidden at my home to even ask the question in a whiny or non-whiny voice, “what’s for dinner?“ It triggers all sorts of negative emotions for me, and I’ve tried to write down on a food board what we are having each day that week.
🙌We all know that meal planning truly saves you time and money, yet being organized enough to meal plan is a whole other ball game!
Lastly, we talked about the importance of conversation and way to chat at dinner time.
We like to use the “Rose, Bud, and Thorn” method
Years ago, a friend told me they sit around the family dinner table and discuss their “Rose, bud, and thorn” from each day.
🌹ROSE: highlight, success, something positive
🌹BUD: something you’re looking forward to tomorrow or in the near future
🌹THORN: A challenge they have experienced or something they could use more support with
I thought it was a clever and an easy memorable way to strive to invite conversation around the dinner table, so we tried it and it stuck.
Recently, I heard a friend say that they do “good bad happy sad“ and when I mentioned that to my family to try to shift gears a little, my husband suggested instead we could change it to “happy crappy sappy.”
No matter how you slice it, having a rhyming guide to help with the conversation around the dinner table is very helpful.
🙌 I also love to have conversation cards and that’s why I created the CONSIDER THIS phone etiquette and confidence building cards to have more meaningful discussions.
I am a big fan of not just talking about the positive things, but allowing a space for our kids to share about the not so positive as well. To have those feelings validated and maybe brainstorm for solutions.
Conversations around the family dinner table are vital to helping children become successful adults. The beat way to CONNECT as a family each day, while making your tummies happy.
BENEFITS OF FAMILY DINNER CONVERSATION:
🔹boosts intellectual curiosity
🔹stronger bond between family members
🔹 better communication skills
🔹 higher self-esteem
🔹 Active listening skills learned
🔹 enhanced logical reasoning
🔹 better ability to analyze
🔹 creative problem-solving
