Just say dinner
Jun 15, 2009
When I was growing up, my mother offered me a very effective escape valve. “Blame me,” she would say. “Tell your friends I’m making you do it” (whatever the “it” was at the time – coming home early, dressing appropriately, etc. etc.) Now that advice seems old fashioned and quaint –we are more focused on having children take responsibility for their actions. But the tactic let me save face with my friends while doing what my parents expected of me.
When we provide our kids with consistent, dependable schedules and expectations, we make their lives easier. They know where and when they’re supposed to show up. They know more or less what they’re supposed to be doing once they get there.
Your kids are probably not going to ask you to prepare more family meals, or to require their presence at those that you have. But you can imagine how much it simplifies things for them if the expectations are clear: if they can say, “Sorry; the family is waiting for me at home.”
Mealtimes Matter Video
from Miriam Weinstein
About Miriam
Miriam Weinstein is an award-winning documentary filmmaker. As a journalist, she has won several awards from the New England Press Association. Her work has appeared in Boston Magazine, the Boston Globe magazine, Hope, and ParentSource. A former staff member for North Shore Weeklies and freelancer for Essex County Newspapers, she writes restaurant reviews and food columns as well as features on a wide variety of subjects. She lives in Gloucester, Massachusetts, with her husband and has two grown children.
The Surprising Power of Family Meals
In her book, The Surprising Power of Family Meals, Miriam Weinstein shows how this basic human institution helps nourish and strengthen our families today. You can buy this book from our friends at Smucker's® Online Store.
