I remember growing up in Peru, Illinois, and every night Mom would cook dinner and our whole family sat down for supper. My Mom’s a pretty good cook, too (a fact that went unnoticed until I went to college.) Dad would ask us boys about our days and Mom made sure we ate our broccoli. At the time, it seemed pretty commonplace and mundane. Certainly not as remarkable as the A-Team, which was about to start so could I be excused, pleeeeaase?
It appears that our culture in general has deemed the whole eating-together-with-your-family thing old-fashioned and unremarkable as well. Apparently, it’s more important than we could have ever imagined. Terry Esau (the author of Surprise Me) mentions a study done in 5,000 homes in Minnesota. It said that there was almost a 2 to 1 ratio of alcohol and drug abuse among kids whose families do not eat their meals together. Go figure.
Put down the remote and pass the broccoli.
[…] Just by using our common sense, we know that it’s important to eat dinner together as a family. Logically, statistics are showing that this 15-20 minutes a day spent as a family will lower drug use, raise grades and prevent misbehavior. In Jason’s speaking programs for families he stresses the importance of family dinners because it’s such a lost art these days, amidst our busy lifestyles. When I was growing up we had dinner together every single night. No question. We would talk about our days, laugh, and reconnect. It was a very predictable and safe part of my day. It’s obvious that kids need that, but adults do too. […]