I am sure I have written about this before but since it is something that works for us SO well I thought I would write on it again.Something that truly works for us is eating meals as a family! It is so nice to start off our day (at breakfast) with some time together and then after Ken gets home we can discuss what happened in our day at supper. I didn't find all the statistics about it, but I know I have read that kids have much better chances in life when they come from a home that has family meals. That is important to me but more than that we enjoy it! (Lunch time is also together time for the kids and I but Ken eats at work.)
How do we do it? We are blessed in the fact that Ken doesn't have to be to work until 9 am (though he does try to get there earlier) so that makes it much easier for breakfasts. I also have some breakfasts in my repertoire that I can make in around 20 minutes. Some of our usual quick breakfasts are: Eggs and toast (I make homemade bread once a week which we use for this), Pancakes (even with grinding my own flour this can go pretty fast. I do still continue to cook them after we have started eating, I just jump up to flip them), French Toast, Breakfast Burritos, Hash browns and quick breads (made the day before and heated up). Our routine is for Ken and I to get up around 6:30, after I have my prayer time I then wake up the kids and start on breakfast. Aaron is in charge of setting the breakfast table so that is one job I don't have to do. We generally eat around 8 am.
For supper I try to have it ready when Ken gets home from work. Sometimes I am late and we have to wait a bit and sometimes Ken is late and the food has to wait a bit but it generally works out pretty well. The kids help with setting the table and cleanup.
What are things we enjoy about eating together? Sharing stories from our day, discuss anything we are learning currently (yesterday breakfast was filled with oral math problems as the boys are really enjoying math right now), Just being together, discussing problems, laughing over jokes (or just silly kids) and learning and teaching manners. We really like it and would recommend it to anybody!
Do you eat together as a family? How do you make it work? What do you like about it best?
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