Family Dinner: Talking with Laurie David About Great Ways to Connect with Your Kids One Meal at a Time

Influencers & Impact, Research & Insights,

November 15, 2010

The Motherhood cooked up a delicious conversation about evening meals with Laurie David, author of “Family Dinner: Great Ways to Connect With Your Kids One Meal At a Time.” Pull up a chair and read on for ideas about the best “ingredients” to create an enjoyable meal with the whole family!

– It’s All About Connections and Conversation: When it comes to family mealtime, the people at the table are the most important ingredient. Family dinner can happen over takeout, if that is all you can do that night! It is just important to get together and connect. SLOW dinner down – everything in life is moving too fast, and dinner is everyone’s chance to reboot, recharge and reconnect.

– It Doesn’t Have to Be Rocket Science: One-pot meals are easy and tasty. There’s so little time with the kids as it is – spend it helping them with homework, reading with them and talking about their day, rather than cleaning pots and pans! Make the meal routine first, then steer towards more healthy or adventurous options – don’t psych yourself out before you get started!

– It’s Never Too Late! It’s great to start the family dinner routine early, but it’s never too late to schedule family dinners! Regardless of your kids’ ages, they will enjoy family dinner.

– Get the Kids Involved: Often, the more kids get involved with the cooking, the better the discussion around the dinner table. Get them cooking and they’ll get eating. Encouragement is key, and finding the right resources for where each person is at in the kitchen is vital. We don’t all work the same way when it comes to meal preparation.

– Share Clean-up Duty: Make sure everyone helps with clean-up so it doesn’t all fall on one person’s shoulders. Try rotating jobs to give everyone a chance to improve at doing everything!

– Set a Good Example: Dinner is a chance to talk about your day together, the good and the bad, but it’s also a great opportunity for you to model good table behavior to your kids and expose your kids to new foods.

– Keep Serving New Foods: Don’t ever give up on offering new foods to children. Their palates are inexperienced, and it takes some time to adjust to new tastes and textures. It can take up to 12 times tasting something before you develop a palate for it, which is why it’s so important to cook for the family, not for the kids – and if they see you enjoying it, they will too!

– Come to the Table Prepared: Having one great question or verbal game for the table is generally all you need to get everyone talking and laughing! Aviva Goldfarb (of the Six O’clock Scramble) did a great post on PBS.org about conversation-starting games around the table: http://www.pbs.org/parents/kitchenexplorers/2010/11/02/dinnertime-can-be-all-fun-and-games/

– Be Flexible with Dinnertime: Often, older kids will have afterschool activities, but family dinner can still be a rule for you, even if it is sometimes later in the evening. It’s okay to be very flexible about the time, as long as you have a chance to sit down as a family at some point during the day.

– Dish It Up Family Style: Try putting each dish in a bowl and passing it around the table, encouraging each person to manage their own portions. It slows down dinner, makes it more interactive and gives you more time to talk and catch up with each person in the family.

– Swap Meals with a Friend: Find a friend or two and “swap” meals. As long as you’re making a meal, whip up three batches and bring two to friends. If they can do the same, it’s a great way to get multiple homemade meals and only have to cook once or twice in a week! The multiple batch option works beautifully for freezing, too, if the recipe is freezer friendly.

– Pass Down Family Lore: The dinner table is the number one place that family history gets passed on, and when we stop eating together, we stop passing on the knowledge of family history that builds resilience in children. Just one more great reason to start a tradition of family meals!

GREAT RESOURCES!!

All of Our Blogger Co-hosts’ Blogs! See links to all of them below!

The HuffPost Family Dinner Download on The Huffington Post: A new feature, where every Friday, the editors take one great news story from the week, write a short and snappy synopsis, and provide a question for the dinner table. All the stories will be age appropriate and touch on issues of honesty, values, morals, etc. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/05/huffpost-family-dinner-do_n_779622.html

Watch Laurie talk about Vietnamese soup on Martha Stewart: http://www.marthastewart.com/show/the-martha-stewart-show/family-dinner-with-laurie-david

And her Treasure Bowl on the TODAY Show: http://video.tvguide.com/Today/Parenting++Regain+family+time+with+dinner/6631784?autoplay=true

THANKS to the amazing Laurie David and our inspired foodie moms who co-hosted the Talk:

Amy Johnson, She Wears Many Hats

Heidi Umbhau, Spatulatta

Jennifer Leal, Savoring the Thyme

Jennifer Perillo, In Jennie’s Kitchen

Julie Mastbrook, Mommie Cooks

Kate Selner, Kate in the Kitchen

Katie Goodman, Good Life Eats

Kristen Doyle, Dine & Dish

Sarah Caron, Sarah’s Cucina Bella