Confessions of a Family Dinner Advocate

Dear Readers,

My conscience can no longer take the dissonance between my words of wisdom and my acts of folly.  I come to you, fully repentant and ready to change for good – even if it means fewer words in my future blogs.  It is true – my commitment to family dinner for the past six months has been atrocious. My wife has more than once called me a hypocrite for writing blogs exhorting families to get back to the table while staying late at work and missing dinnertime!  If I said that I got to two family dinners a week this fall, I would be exaggerating.  If I said I never stopped on the way home at a burger joint and ruined my dinner with a drive-thru I would be out and out lying to you.

And then when I got to the table I was often there in body only – my mind was still running through all the things I hadn’t done, perseverating on arguments that I had, or just exhausted and empty.

I am sorry – I repent –  and I resolve.  I resolve to make family dinner a priority again in 2014.  Not just to talk about it – but do it, and have fun doing it.

If there is one thing that this holiday season has reminded me, it is that these precious years we have while the kids are still young will not last and they are precious.  What could be more important?  So I am making a list:

Things that got in the way of family dinner in 2013:

Too much work – not enough boundaries!

No scheduling  – no routines

No weekend planning – no cooking and shopping ahead

The table got taken over by paperwork

No lunches = Drive-thru temptation.

Too much on my mind.

So what am I going to do about it?

Get some help:  First of all I am going to take a bit of my own medicine.  I am actually going to sign up for my own program Food Fun and Conversation: 4 Weeks to Better Family Dinners.  Doctor heal thyself!

Make the commitment:  The first week is making the commitment and that is what I have done.  I actually sat with my wife and my calendar and we made a weekly plan for dinners when I will be home. I scheduled them into my calendar so that when someone says, “Oh, can you meet on Thursday at 5:30?”  I will say, “Oh, I’m sorry I already have something on the calendar.”

Plan ahead and make it simple:  creating lists and filling the pantry with things that make it easy to pull together a good meal in short order.  I want to cook extra so I have some to take to work the next day so I am not so hungry on the ride home – no more drive thrus!

Leave work at work: I want to have fun at the table, play music, play games and enjoy cooking, eating and cleaning with my family.

I hope you’ll join me as I take on the Food, Fun and Conversation challenge. I’ll be posting updates to share how its going – Check back to see if I make it and send me your stories. Who’s in?