3 Ways To Make Family Mealtimes Less Stressful
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There are many benefits to eating together as a family. Just some of these include better school marks for the children, healthier eating habits, time to bond and making memories together. Yet often the reality of these family mealtimes is not quite what people want. Rather than a happy, smiling family sitting together and talking about their day, eating the freshly prepared food in front of them, the entire meal is more of an ordeal, including tantrums, silence, and picked over food.
It can be made better There are ways that family mealtimes can be made less stressful. Read on to find out what they are.
Involve The Child
The more you can involve your child or children in the meal preparation, cooking, and cleaning up, the more they will feel part of the situation, and this can make a big difference. Serving up something that you have all made together, to be enjoyed together is a much more understandable concept than being pulled away from the TV or a computer game to sit down and eat something that you had no say in.
Not only will it make mealtimes more pleasant, but when children are involved in meal preparation from an early age, it will help them develop life skills that they will find useful in later life.
Have A Dining Table
One of the mistakes that parents can often make when they decide they want to have family meals is to eat on trays in front of the TV. As much fun as this can be for the occasional treat, it’s not the ideal thing for a daily family dinner. Everyone will be far too distracted by what’s on the screen to really talk, and it has also been proven that we all eat much more than we should when watching TV because our brains don’t realise we’re full until it’s too late.
If you have a dining table, this is where the family meal needs to take place, without any TVs or phones or tablets being involved. If you don’t have a table big enough for everyone, you should invest in one. There are some great dining table sets available to suit any budget, and the difference will be immediate and amazing.
Have A Question Pot
Unless someone has something important to say, there is a risk that family mealtimes can become silent affairs, with everyone just trying to eat their food and then rush off to do whatever they want before bed. However, the family meal is meant to be a chance to get together and discuss the day, or bond a little more, so talking is important.
Have a question pot in the middle of the table and this potential problem can be solved. Rather than sitting in silence, if no one has anything to say, reach for a question from the pot. This could be a debate topic or a simple query about a specific subject, or anything to spark some conversation. You might not need it, but it’s useful to have it there if you do.
If you have small children, you could also think about a first aid course. It will help you to identify whether your child is choking and then what to do about it. It’s literally a lifesaver.
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