Family Dinner Night

Family dinners are such a great habit to establish within your family. Not only does it create scheduled, sit down time with family members, but a dinner table is a great place to learn more about each other and create an environment for open communication and quality time. When I was younger, I remember dinner time always being such great family time. As we got older, our schedules became busier and we would end up having picnics at the ballpark multiple times a week. However, there would still always be days during the week where we would slow down and just be together at dinnertime. And, our table was always open for more “family members”. Whether it was Friday pizza night or just a random night of the week, extra seats were always at our table.

This didn’t come as naturally for my husband and I at first. In our current situation in medical school, it was very easy for us to eat quickly and Ashkon would get right back to studying, almost as if eating meals was just one more task to check off the to-do list. This didn’t last long though. We quickly realized that meals would be a great way for us to have some planned quality time during the week since we didn’t have many other opportunities with his busy schedule. We now try to just be once we are done eating, at least for a little mental break for him and a little time for me to be with my husband.

So, if you already do this with your family, try some new ideas to make it more exciting rather than just a monotonous routine. And if you don’t already do this, try it! Have themes for a certain night of the week. Have planned out questions to ask around the table as you eat. Do a High and Low of the week. Have each member of your family come to the table with some questions- silly or serious! Have your kids choose one night a month that they help with dinner and they are responsible for leading the family time. Play a board game after dinner. Clear the dishes and play a fun interactive game- Catch Phrase, The Fish Bowl Game, 21 Questions, Charades. The options are endless! Whatever you do, take that time to just BE with your family. No phones, no schedules, no distractions, just FAMILY! 🙂

I couldn’t find any old pictures of the whole family but here are some holiday photos! Holidays, when family and extended family are over, is a great time to use some of these dinner table ideas, as well!

Sister, Jess, couldn’t make it this Thanksgiving so we took a picture to add her in! It’s always hard to not have our whole family for holidays and home vacations, especially for those good dinner time conversations and fun!