Search Results for: blog why families should eat dinner together

And So It Begins…

You know those moms doing a happy dance in the parking lot on the first day of school, then caravanning together to the nearest Starbucks to toast their freedom with Venti Java Chip Frappuccinos? I’m not one of them. I’m the mom rushing off to get as much work done before I have to navigate the car line for pick-up. I’m also the mom who feels like an amputee walking out of school after three straight months of summer vacation. Three straight months operating as my child’s social activities coordinator and she as my third arm. So, no, I’m won’t … Continue reading →

The Drum Plate

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Eating is sort of a tradition in our family. I suspect it is everywhere, but somehow it feels like it’s special to us. From my earliest days on this earth I liked eating. My whole family likes eating. If we were to really think about it (which we tend not to) we probably eat to a fault. At any rate, eating is an activity that brings us together. We share food as well as stories. We laugh, we smile and we pass along a sense of family to the next generation. The dinner table is about much more than food, … Continue reading →

The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids’ Favorite Meals by Missy Chase

Missy Chase Lapine has given parents 272 pages of good advice in her book, The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids’ Favorite Meals. We all want our children to eat healthier and cringe when they balk that they do not like their vegetables. We cannot force our kids to eat what they should. We cannot bribe or punish them either. It just does not work like that. They either have to want to eat what we make or make what they want to eat with a few extra ingredients added to it. Ms. Lapine shows us … Continue reading →

Supporting Each Other in Times of Unemployment

Few things cause stress in a marriage like lack of employment, and with the economy suffering as it has, we’re seeing more and more couples facing this challenge. Money does strike at our sense of security, and when we don’t feel secure, it’s hard to concentrate on anything else, including our relationships. When the husband or wife is unemployed, it’s more important than ever that they stay united. Sometimes there is a tendency to blame the person who lost the job—if they’d only been a little more diligent in their work or a little more punctual or a little more … Continue reading →

Easter After Effects: The Sugar High Blues

It is the day after Easter and not a peep in the house. Where are they? You go upstairs to find two small children fast asleep at 1 o’clock in the afternoon. Huh? Why, they are usually wide awake causing chaos and havoc at this time of the day when there is no school. This is the day after. The day after Easter. These children are suffering from the sugar high blues. Easter was wonderful. The children awoke to find beautifully decorated Easter baskets all decked out in colorful cellophane wrap put together by yours truly. Yes, they had far … Continue reading →

Making Dinnertime Fun

Is there a way to make dinnertime fun? This is the question that races through the mind of every homemaker at least once in a while. I can’t say that I’m an expert, but I do have some ideas that might be of use. 1. Try new recipes, and let your family judge them on a scale of one to ten. This encourages even picky eaters to at least try the dish, because they can’t cast a vote until they have tasted it. Every dish that scores over an average of eight goes in your recipe binder, and everything that … Continue reading →

Getting to Know Your Teen Better

On Monday we celebrated Christmas with my sister’s family, my dad and stepmom. When we go to my dad’s house it always starts the same way. My children and their cousins disappear to the expansive basement to play hide and seek in the dark, while the adults sit in the living room and talk. The most my dad and stepmom get to hear about the kids is what we adults share. But they don’t get much of an opportunity to really get to know their grandkids. They aren’t the most talkative and most answers to their questions are pretty simple, … Continue reading →

One Family – Two Special Diets

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Right now there are two special diets to be satisfied in our family – well, three if you count the picky husband diet. I have gestational diabetes and on top of trying to eat a healthy diet, have had to cut way back on carbs. My daughter on the other hand has cystic fibrosis and has to eat a high calorie, high fat diet. So how do I please everyone’s tastes while sticking to everyone’s diet? It isn’t easy, especially with all of this Halloween candy lying around. However, here are some ideas for you if you are in a … Continue reading →

Memories of Childhood

I was sitting back thinking the other day of my mother. Don’t get me wrong. I think of my mother every day, but not in the way I was thinking of her at that moment. There were six of us altogether. We had a big, old black and white television with two or three channels so TV watching was pretty limited. We had our record player. We had a swing set and even a little pool. We had more than most kids had back then, but the days were still long. My mother would keep us as busy as she … Continue reading →

Let’s Celebrate!

Celebrations can add that little zing to your marriage. Yes there are the obvious big celebrations like wedding anniversaries and birthdays, but also celebrate the small things. Celebrations might include the date of your first date. Now I have to say at this point, I could not tell you the date of Mick’s and my first date. Fortunately he can’t either or I’d feel really bad. I can tell you where we went – to a Rolling Stones concert. I should also tell you I was never a fan of the Stones so that says more about the company than … Continue reading →