Sometimes, I think our culture views having dinner together as a family as something that’s “old fashioned.” That might have worked for Norman Rockwell and Little House on the Prairie, but those butter churning, corn cobb pipe whittlin’ days are long behind us. The modern family is too busy to connect at the table like that anymore.
Which was why I was surprised to see the ultra modern, not even a smidge old fashioned, Huffington Post do an article recently titled, “How eating at home can save your life.”
Here are some insane things the article pointed out:
- Research shows that children who have regular meals with their parents do better in every way, from better grades, to healthier relationships, to staying out of trouble.
- Kids who have regular meals are 42 percent less likely to drink.
- They are 50 percent less likely to smoke.
- They are 66 percent less like to smoke marijuana.
- Regular family dinners protect girls from bulimia, anorexia, and diet pills.
- Family dinners also reduce the incidence of childhood obesity.
As a dad, I don’t take those bullet points lightly. And as I mentioned last Wednesday, I’ve realized recently how out of whack my priorities have been lately. I haven’t been focusing very well on the things that matter most.
This year, I will travel more than I ever have before in my life. Although I will protect my time at home and balance my days on the road, it will be far too easy for our family dinners to fall apart.
Maybe it’s a challenge for your family too. Maybe you can’t remember the last time everyone sat down at the dinner table for 30 minutes without the TV or the iPhones or the Blackberries as invited guests. Maybe you’re so on the go that like the Huffington Post article said, you eat “more meals in the minivan than in the kitchen.” I don’t know the specifics of your situation, but I do want to challenge me and challenge you.
The only problem is that Stuff Christians Like isn’t a food blog or a parenting blog or a mom blog. (Though I sometimes wish it were. Mom blogs get crazy traffic!) I respect the concept of what SCL is too much to try to cram a dinner challenge into it.
But the number one sponsor of Stuff Christians Like has a food blog. Their mission is to strengthen families through something as simple as a home cooked meal. Their support of this site is a big part of the reason I get to write each day. And they have graciously offered to host my “bringing dinner back” challenge.
Here’s what I’m thinking.
Starting on February 4th , I’m going to blog every Friday on the E-Mealz blog. For three months, I’ll tell you how many days our family had a meal together each week and tell you some of the things that happened around the dinner table. If you follow me on Twitter, you know my kids are like tiny comedians. So I assure you it will be funny.
If you’re up for it, I’d love to have you do it too. I’d love for you to be deliberate with me to bring dinner back. I’d love for you to comment on the posts and talk trash about the number of days you’re family had dinner together that week. (Count from Saturday to Friday each week.) Think of it kind of like a dinner fantasy football league. Just like I mentioned yesterday that having a community approach to reading through the Bible has helped me stay consistent, I think working as a team on bringing dinner back would be fun.
My family is going to use E-Mealz wicked easy recipes to increase our chance of success. They’re only $5 a month and if you enter “SCL” in the promo code, it’s even cheaper. The Huffington Post made a great point about cooking. “We complain of not having enough time to cook, but Americans spend more time watching cooking on the Food Network than actually preparing their own meals.” Since the recipe planning and list making is all done for you, E-Mealz makes it simple to find the time to cook.
I’m excited about this and hope you’ll give it a try with me.
Let’s bring dinner back.
