Meaningful Meals

One simple yet powerful family ritual is the weekly sit-down dinner. Family dinners help bring everyone together for good food, conversation, and relaxation. Many important problems have been solved in conversations that took place during family dinners, making it kind of like the family a therapy session, but free, and with dessert!

Schedule one night out of the week to hold your family dinner. Friday is a good choice, because it gives the family members an opportunity to review the work and school week, discuss weekend plans, etc. However, if Fridays don't work for your family, simply pick a day that does, just try and keep it on the same day; a hit-or-miss schedule will get confusing.

The menu for your family dinner is up to you, but try to keep it simple. For some families, their weekly dinner is a take-out night, but this option can get quite expensive so it's definitely not for everyone. Money aside, there's something special about sharing a homemade meal that takeout food just doesn't provide.

Keep in mind, these aren't holiday dinners or parties, so don't slave over a stove trying to create something dazzling. The cook, whether it's you or your hubby, shouldn't feel stressed out and left out of the fun because of all the work involved in preparation and clean up. Stick with basic family favorites that aren't too fancy and which everyone can agree on.