Making the Case for Family Dinners

The Happy Eater!

Dinnertime has always been one of the happiest parts of my day. Not because I like to eat (I do), but because it is family time. When I was a child, my father worked until 4:30 each afternoon. He arrived home promptly at 4:45, and when he walked in, we all sat down and ate dinner together as a family.  I know that's early, but my parents ate like they were seventy-year-old seniors heading down to the local Morison's for the early-bird discount. Later in the evening, my daddy always went back to the kitchen and had his "midnight snack." I normally joined him at the table for some kind of gooey treat, and we talked and spent even more time together.

When my big girls were little girls, more often than not, we ate together as a family. Now that I'm doing mommy-hood the sequel, I see more than ever the value in those family meals. Life is busy. Moms and Dads both work, and usually, their little ones are in school or daycare. It's life, and it's hectic. Everyone's plate is full and no one has time to just sit and talk. In fact, there are families who spend their whole day without having a meaningful conversation with the other members.

So if folks are so busy, how can I make the case for family suppers? Because it's just that important. You have to make time. No, you may not be able to do it everyday, but when you look back on your week, hopefully more meals were eaten together as a family than alone. Family meals force parents to sit with their kids and listen. Let them tell you about their day. Tell them about yours. In those few minutes of being together, it creates a cohesiveness a lot of families are missing.

It also teaches them good eating habits. They learn that meal time isn't meant to be spent grabbing a sandwich over the sink or eating with one hand while the other types on the computer. They get nutritious, homemade meals instead of a happy meal. They learn table manners by watching you or if they're little like my guy, they realize we sit for meals and not run around the room! They are exposed to real food and see you eating it as well. One of the best ways to get your child to eat is to let them see you enjoy food. They want to be like you. The best part is, for those thirty minutes or so, your child sees that nothing is more important than his family.

My life is pretty crazy. I run an in-home daycare, blog and take care of our home. My husband is just as busy. He's a research scientist and professor. I'm expanding my business and taking on more children. My husband is starting a new phase of research that will keep him even busier than he is.

But pretty much every night, we sit down together and eat. I can hardly wait until my husband walks through the door, because we cook together, and Emrys sees two adults who love each other making his food. He's even learned to sit through an entire meal without screaming to get down. We laugh together and watch our little one's reaction as he is exposed to new flavors, textures and tastes. His eyes light up when he likes a food, and he spits it out when he thinks it's yucky. The best part is, we witness the whole thing. Together.

Hungrily,
AmandaZ
Domesticology

Do you do family dinners?  Leave your thoughts below and be sure to share! Thanks!

The Battle of The Bink

The Bink - My enemy; My friend

Happy New Year, one and all! It's that time of year when resolutions are made. It's when some of us promise to be better people and get along with family. Maybe we'll volunteer more or begin an exercise program and lose weight. That seems to be the most common goal. Many of you will be fighting the battle of the bulge this January, and I certainly wish you luck. But for my family, it's a different kind of struggle. In our house, we're fighting the Battle of the Bink and trust me, we're losing - hard.

We started out strong with the best of intentions. When our little one was born, we promised ourselves that he would be pacifier-free by two years-old. A fair and noble goal, if you ask me. He'll be young enough that his teeth won't look like Bugs Bunny, yet old enough that we can reason with him when we rip away his favorite item on the planet like the evil parents we are. So far, we have stood by our promise...which has been fairly easy since he's not two yet. But as we creep ever closer to his second birthday, we realize we're getting ready to fail big time.

The problem is I have a love/hate relationship with the Bink. I love them because I firmly believe babies who use pacifiers are happier babies. They are soothed easier and they sleep better (Note: I have no scientific proof to back this up, but as I've said before, I'm a blogger so it must be true). With all of these benefits, I've been hesitant to take away the one object that brings more peace to my home, more calm and happiness, than anything else. Well, maybe second only to a really nice Cabernet.

I hate them too. They are expensive. He bites through them, and I'm replacing them every few weeks. They're easily lost and when you find them, they're covered in dog fur and not really good for babies when bacteria-ridden. He loses them at night, and we do the sleepy parent shuffle in the dark to find a bink in the covers. Invariably, it's behind the crib, and the item that's supposed to bring ease to my life brings a royal dose of pain in the ass.

We realized back in November that his February birthday was fast approaching, and we had done nothing to make the transition. So we began planning our strategy. We would make Bink just for bedtime! He would only have it for sleeping, but no daytime use. Brilliant! Our plan was going really well, actually. Being the good baby he is, he would sweetly hand us Bink when he got up to play. What a wonderful boy. We are super parents, and he is a perfect child.

Then he got sick and our plan went into the crapper.

Our sweet little boy would shriek like a banshee when we tried to take his Bink away. Even after he got over the crud, he wouldn't go back to the nighttime bink rule. He expected to have it whenever and wherever he wanted it. We have a dish in our room where we keep the Binks until needed (The Bink Bowl). I knew we had hit rock bottom when I found myself crouched on the floor giving him "just a few sucks sweetie, but don't tell daddy" after his father reminded him that binks were only for bedtime and he wasn't sleeping.  He was so pitiful, like a little baby bink junkie needing just one more suck. I admit it. I was an enabler.

So we gave up taking away the Bink for now. We failed. Baby - 1; Parents - 0.

What makes this even more difficult is he's become a three Bink-a-day sucker. Oh yes, he must have three pacifiers on the go at all times. He's hooked. If anything, he's more dependent by the hour, and we are powerless to stop it without severe pain inflicted upon all of us. It's going to get ugly, and I'm not looking forward to it. Maybe we'll delay it past his second birthday. What harm is there, really? It's not like he'll take it to college.

Will he?

Contemplatively,
AmandaZ
Domesticology

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