I just wanted to take a minute to brag about myself, haha!
For the past two months, I have cooked a family dinner every single weeknight. This may not seem all that impressive to many people, but it's a huge change for me. It used to be that Gus would come home late and fend for himself. Which left Nikos and I on our own to eat. I'd fix something quick for him, and then something else for myself. Three people, three separate dinners. I knew that this would have to change at some point, since I really wanted us to have family dinners, but I wasn't sure when it would happen.
Well, Gus was able to adjust his work schedule slightly, making it home by 6pm every night. And I started doing weekly menu planning, coming up with a list of meals that were quick and easy to prepare after working all day. And I've managed to stick with it!
It's been great, too. We all sit down at the table together, and Maya joins us in her bouncy seat or the jumperoo. In general, it's such a nice time. Nikos seems to relish the attention he gets from both his parents at dinner time, and I enjoy just sitting with my family all together.
In other words, it's a good thing. I can definitely keep this up, because it's totally worth it. But I'm still proud of myself for making it this far! :)
1 comment:
Briar, I finally relocated your page!! So congratulations on family dinners. They ARE completely worth it. The most successful students (in high school) have family dinners. I've been teaching a food issues class for English 2 and 3, and the healthy eating habits (like not snacking all the time, not eating fast food) come from an appreciation of and the habit of family meals. AND I get so many lovely essays in which a student basically lauds his or her parent (mother, usually, and sometimes a grandparent) for making amazing family meals. I think communal meals are the seeds of civilization, and how your (and my) children will become civilized, social, etc. Nathaniel still picks up his food with his fists, and he sometimes interrupts, but he basically knows how a conversation works, and how a group of people interact all together at the same time, with unspoken rules, because of dinner. Emma used a fork beautifully from age 2, so I'm not sure when N.'s going to get interested in that...Love, Dana
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