There was one headline in the news today which really caught my attention. The story suggests that children who sit around a table with their family during mealtimes are more likely to eat their recommended five fruit and vegetables a day.
Although I agree completely with this statement I also think that there are even greater benefits to sitting around a table together at mealtimes. As a family we try to do this as often as we can – it doesn’t always work out like that with one or both of us coming in late and the other playing out with friends – but we try when possible to make the effort.
The reason I’m so conscious of it is that with a teenager in the house it can be difficult to have the chance to catch up. Plus when we get in from work we fall into bad habits and turn on our laptops or iPads meaning we pretty much ignore each other all evening other than the odd grunt or murmur of agreement here and there. Mealtimes are the perfect opportunity to communicate and to natter, laugh and generally engage with each other.
Although our worlds are very much consumed by social media and technology (I’m texting my husband about what we should do for dinner as I write this blog and sending a Facebook message to my step son to let him know what time it will be ready!) I still feel that there should be importance placed on quality time together.
I don’t want to sound too ‘fluffy’ and I’m certainly not expecting any awards from Super Nanny anytime soon but I know that mealtimes in our house are our time and that after thinking about it this is one of the reasons that I enjoy Christmas so much.
We all get together and have a huge lunch, where we all spend hours catching up. We don’t count our vegetable intake and there’s rarely a piece of fruit insight – unless you count sugar coated or dipped in chocolate – but all of the food is freshly prepared and delicious. Better still once we’ve finished our meals we have a nap and it starts all over again!
So, this Christmas I’m going to put it out there – I think that everyone should take the time to come together and just think about how much fun it can be to sit together around a table, eat, drink, chat and be merry. Perhaps if we all appreciate the time we have with each other face-to-face we will do it more often.
Merry Christmas everyone!