Some of the best traditions we had growing up are falling by the wayside thanks to a busier pace of life. While there are some technological marvels that make life a lot better, sometimes we get away from the basics. When people are busy just trying to make ends meet and kids are obsessed with social networking, basic family dynamics can be forgotten. When you have both parents working just to put food on the table, they don’t always have time to cook that food themselves. While it might not seem like a huge deal, there might be long-term implications for the basic family structure. And no matter where you live or who you are, there’s no denying that a traditional family meal is a powerful thing. It’s much more than getting the basic amount of calories you need on a daily basis. It’s also about spending time together and bonding over one of the best experiences life has to offer.
One of the biggest downsides of not having family meals is when you take a look at the alternative. Not only are family spending less time together, they are making poor food choices as well. With both parents extremely busy and being preoccupied with other obligations, sometimes fast food is seemingly the only suitable replacement. So instead of home-cooked meals packed with natural goodness and nutrition, kids are growing up on fast food and pizza. It can’t be a coincidence that obesity rates in children are rising at exponential levels.
This highlights the fact that cooking is actually an educational experience and is lots of information that can be passed down to kids. When you are able to prepare healthy dishes, there’s a general message sent to children who are growing up in that type of environment. On the other hand, if all that ever ends up on the dinner table is burgers and fries and the occasional happy meal, this can be a problem. Both parents and kids alike can go for a long time without ever realizing their bad eating habits. And if left unchecked, people can end up with cholesterol problems, difficulties with weight, or even more serious complications related to bad eating patterns. This can then spiral into weight loss efforts that are also misinformed and based on easy answers rather than changing fundamentals.
On an emotional level, families simply need to spend more time together. Parents need to be parents while learning about their kids lives in the right setting. Kids also have to learn about parents in a similar way while strengthening bonds over everyday conversation. Even if you only talk about sports or what’s going on at school, it’s a lot better than not talking at all. It might seem difficult to coordinate your schedule to accommodate this type of thing, but that’s what parenting is all about. It’s supposed to be difficult and you have to find the best way to prioritize so that you can build and support your family.
Studies have shown that engaging in regular family meals has a direct correlation with kids growing up with fewer problems related to drugs, unwanted pregnancy, and low self-esteem. Is it some kind of magical thing that happens when you sit down together for dinner? No, absolutely not. It’s actually rather simple. When you spend time together you’re likely to strengthen your connection and make your kids feel more supportive. Lessons are learned over everyday meals and these bits of information accumulated everyday eventually add up. So while it might just seem like sitting at the table and eating roast chicken together, you’re actually establishing a supportive pattern that helps your kids to grow up happy and healthy.
Cooking can also be a great experience for the whole family to enjoy together. So rather than having one parent slave over the stove while preparing multiple dishes, get everyone in on the action. It’s also a great time to learn about healthier dishes and better patterns for daily eating habits. You can work on this is a project the entire family can accomplish together. When you share family experiences that are whole Psalm and don’t involve the distractions of modern-day technology, you’ll get to know one another a lot better. And remember, it works both ways as parents get to know their children and vice versa. While not all of society’s problems can be blamed on this one basic element, things would probably be a lot better if more families were able to do this on a regular basis.