September 26-Family Day, A Day to Eat Dinner with Your Children

Tomorrow, September 26th is Family Day-A Day to Eat Dinner with Your Children.  This day encourages families of all types to stop, take 30 minutes and eat dinner as a family.  To that I say...hurrah!

I remember where I was when I first heard about this concept.  It was 2006 and the Sweet Boy was a baby, less than two months old, and I was driving down the main road in our neighborhood.  I was struck by the idea that families had become so busy that they were not eating dinner together to the point that they needed to create a day for Americans to stop and spend time together at the dinner table.  The data on how adversly children can be impacted just by families not eating dinner together on a regular basis was astounding to me.

According to the statistics for Family Day, the CASA Columbia report finds " that compared to teens who have frequent family dinners (five to seven per week), those who have infrequent family dinners (fewer than three per week) are almost four times likelier to use tobacco; more than twice as likely to use alcohol; two-and-a-half times likelier to use marijuana; and almost four times likelier to say they expect to try drugs in the future." 

There is more information on the CASA Family Day website
http://www.casacolumbia.org/templates/Home.aspx?articleid=287&zoneid=32

There in my car with the Sweet Boy, I decided that was not going to be a problem for our family.  No matter how busy our family got with work, school or extracirricular activities, we were going to eat dinner together on a regular basis. And for the most part, we do a real dinner together almost every night.  I believe on this day, at that intersection, the seed for Good, Better, Best Food was planted.

Part of the reason why I am so passionate about Good Better Best Food is that I want people to understand that they can take 30 minutes or so and make a meal that will not only nourish their bodies but will also strengthen their family.  That it is not only important to their physical health but also to the health of their family structure.

Good, Better, Best is a resource to help busy people understand that with a little planning dinner does not have to be a big, stressful deal.  I hope that that after you read the information from CASA about the importance of eating dinner together as a family you too will make this commitment.  Good, Better, Best is here to help.

Feel free to leave me comments about what you are going to try and do to eat dinner as a family!

Happy Family Day!  Enjoy the Best Food!
Patty