Later, the kids assembled their pizzas while the adults met with FDP Director John Sarrouf to share family meal strategies with one another. The children spread the sauce, sprinkled the cheese and meticulously placed their preferred toppings on their crust, producing mountainous, colorful pizza pies. While the pizzas baked, the kids finished setting the table and preparing the green salad and Italian dressing. Reunited, the group said a toast, and then each person shared a “Rose” (high point) and “Thorn” (low point) of their day with the rest of the table. Some reluctant salad-eaters were pleasantly surprised by its deliciousness! (One mom remarked, “I didn’t mean to eat the salad at all, and I ended up eating the whole thing!”) A lively round of “I Spy” ensued as we dug into the pizza.
The Family Dinner Project is more than a movement of hassle-free recipes and clever techniques for managing children, or of projecting an image of picture-perfect families. It is about building bonds within families and bridges between them. It is about community. It is about becoming the family you want to be and about creating the community you want to be a part of. And through its focus on ethics and outreach, it is about becoming good human beings.