Direct your children onto the right path,
      and when they are older, they will not leave it.

One of the things my husband and I did when our children were growing up was to have dinner together almost every night.  Unfortunately “Family Supper Time” is something that is disappearing from most homes today.  Studies continue to confirm the positive impact of families eating meals together.  It was found that kids who ate dinner with their families at least five times per week (at home or in a fast food restaurant) were the least likely to take drugs, feel depressed or get into trouble with the law.  In addition, these young people were more likely to do well in school and to have a supportive circle of friends. The more poorly adjusted teens, in contrast, ate with their parents an average of three or fewer evenings a week.

Having supper together as a family was also not optional for us.  It was expected.  Today people find it harder and harder to spend time together as a family.  In a 1996 study done at the Harvard’s Graduate School of Education, 65 families were followed over an eight-year period.  It was determined that dinnertime was of more value to child development than playtime, school and story time. Clearly, there is power in family fellowship.
With such strong evidence in support of family meals, it’s unfortunate that only one-third of families eat dinner together most nights.  It doesn’t have to take much to have dinner together.  The most important ingredient is not what is on the table.  What does make a difference is that we take time to regularly set time aside and sit down to eat together.  

So, if eating together has disappeared from your family life, are you ready to bring it back, OR, if you have never done it, are you willing to try?  Make supper or order a pizza and let the kids know that “we” are going to eat at the family table tonight. Ask your kids what kind of day they had. Listen.  Make it fun. You will be glad you did.