5 Tips to Get Your Family to the Dining Table
Late January – it’s a tough time of year for New Year’s resolutions. The first few weeks of any new year are encouraging and ac
tive – we get a lot done. But by mid-month, our motivation starts to lag, and by the end of the month, most resolutions are thrown by the wayside.
One resolution that seems difficult, but doesn’t have to be, is to gather the whole family and sit down at the dinner table for meals. Everyone’s lives are so busy that this may sometimes seem impossible, but it’s important to give it a shot. Families who eat together communicate better, eat healthier, and have kids who are more well-adjusted and get better grades. That seems worth the scheduling struggle.
And it doesn’t have to be such a struggle, either. These six tips will make it a little easier to get everybody together – at least on most nights:
1. Be Realistic
New Year’s resolutions of all stripes often don’t succeed because we have unrealistic expectations. We don’t lose 50 pounds by the end of January – and it’s unlikely that any family will instantly transition from eating separately, or in front of the TV, to sitting 
around the table every single night.
So start small and take it one day at a time. Make two nights a week “dinner night.” Schedule it around the kids’ activities and find a fabulous new wall calendar (like the Pentagram calendar – a graphic designer favorite – at the left) to make it official. And once you get to the table, be flexible – if somebody has a lot of homework, don’t force them to sit at the table for two hours.
2. Make a List of Easy Meals
Finding time to cook can be a big deterrent to getting the family together. It’s so much easier to forage! If you’re pressed for time, takeout works, but there is something about a home-cooked meal that draws families together. One weekend, when you’re not so busy, put together a binder of easy weeknight meals. Find recipes online and print them out. To make the cooking process even easier, add a “grocery list” to each recipe printout. That way you can make your list and be on your way in just a second.
Try Bon Appetit and Food & Wine for inspiration – they both have good “fast and easy” meal sections. This simple sausage and pasta dish is one of our favorites – it’s a fantastic wintertime meal and takes less than 30 minutes to prepare.
3. Set a Great Table
Yes, it’s one more thing to do. But it’s such a fun thing! We love setting a fantastic, fun table for an otherwise boring Tuesday night meal. It infuses the whole night with a sense of excitement. Plus, it’s fun to plan. We love Target and IKEA for inexpensive, fun dishware and table accessories. And inspiration can be found anywhere!
We especially love this pretty al fresco table from the blog From the Right Bank:
And this super-fun indoor picnic, which designer David Stark created for last year’s DIFFA Dining by Design event:
4. Theme It Up
Can anyone say no to “Mexican Fiesta Night?” Not us! Add a specialty drink to the menu, or create a theme around a holiday. Chinese New Year, Valentine’s Day, Cinqo de Mayo – all great meal themes. Snowing outside? Sounds like a perfect night for Caribbean food. Nice out? Make it an impromptu picnic.
Coordinate your napkins and table decor with the food. Find a cheesy party favor at the Dollar Store (a prize – extra incentive!). The theme doesn’t need to be elaborate or outrageous – even the littlest touches make dinner more fun.
5. Shut It Down
Even if everybody’s in the house and around the table, there’s still one more step to make dinner work. Turn off everything. The TV, cell phones, Blackberries – all of it. That goes for Mom and Dad, too. See that TV at the left? It looks great off, doesn’t it?
Finally, don’t forget to actually enjoy dinner. Laugh, tell jokes, ask questions, have fun. The more fun dinner is, the easier it’ll be to schedule.
Bon Appetit!
[Photo Credits: Calendar and TV room from Apartment Therapy. Top dining table from Food & Wine. Paisley table from From the Right Bank to the Left Coast. Indoor picnic table from DIFFA.]
When she’s not mopping up juice spills, Kit throws way-too-big parties, cooks complicated dinner, and decorates (and redecorates) her house. Plus, she writes about all of it – both the fabulous and the disastrous – for Examiner.com, Baltimore Magazine, Houzz.com and on her personal blog, Mango & Ginger.
Thank you so much! Glad you liked it!