Winner Winner Family Dinner

At the end of the first semester of 7th grade, my 12-year-old son, David, came home from school and plopped down a little composition book onto the kitchen counter.

“You can read this if want, Mom. It’s my journal from English.”

“Sure. I’ll take a look,” I told him. Here I thought was my opportunity to peruse the musings of the adolescent mind. Perhaps I’d glean some insight into why haircuts are evil and anything sour is so good. Or why showers should be skipped.

I flipped through his work and was amused. His stories were pretty funny and, hey, his writing skills were pretty good, too! Then something I was not prepared for; something very poignant and sweet; perhaps even a little nugget of affirmation?

Each journal entry was an answer to a question posed to the class from the teacher. This one in particular answered the question: "Describe your favorite setting." David described in detail that his favorite setting is dinnertime with his family. (awwwww) His words painted a sweet picture of our family dinnertime routine.

Now a year later, that same young man has discovered that not everyone sits down for a meal together most nights. Lunchtime conversation at school one day recently must have included an informal poll of some classmates about family dinners. I think he was genuinely surprised that many kids did not sit down to a meal with family on a regular basis.

That got me thinking... what are families doing about dinner these days?

I started poking around...Research shows that family members who share a daily meal are healthier physically, emotionally and spiritually. There is a lot evidence supporting the notion that kids do better in school if they regularly sit down with family for dinner--plus, more of these kids stay off drugs and don't drink or smoke. The family dinner kids are also found to have less obesity rates. I won't bore you with all of the details, but there really are many studies with conclusive results in support of family dinnertime.

Good news for kids, too--statistics show that families are coming back to the table. In 1998, 47% of families polled by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse made dinner together a regular habit. By 2007, that figure was up to 59%. I don't think it's a stretch to conclude that, in light of this economic downturn and high national jobless rate, families are eating at home with more frequency now more than ever.

That leaves me hopeful... because, as we cope with the negative aspects of the current economy, maybe we (as a culture) are also being reminded to place higher value on our families and the time we invest in each other.