Uncommon Family Dinner

Sometimes it’s nice to make a regular family dinner something special.  Even if there is nothing particular to celebrate.  Everyone sitting down together, no phones, might by itself be something to celebrate.  A little effort can make it very meaningful.

Cooking together can be a very great idea.  Talking and cooking and asking for help is a great together time.  Preparing dinner has a variety of tasks to finish and includes lots of different skills.  Children can participate by setting the table, setting the timer, and learning about cooking.  My website has my recipes for Apricot Curry Pork Chops and Lime Tarragon Rice.  You could try those or prepare your favorite dinner.

Take a moment to set the table with at least one candle and turn the lights down when you all sit down.  Occasionally, I like to sing grace all together before eating.  We found out that my husband’s relatives in Denmark do this, and two months later discovered my family in Washington state sing a Johnny Appleseed song.  My friend’s family sings a song for thanks with the tune from Edelweiss.  You can find a personal selection for your family.

It is important for each person at your family table to speak at least a little.  You can use different methods to encourage the quieter ones to participate or perhaps I should say to get the talkier ones to pause.  Here are three suggestions to prime the participating pump:

        Mad, Sad, Glad  Each person shares an incident that made them mad, sad, and glad.  Usually works best when one person goes through her list, then move on to another.

        Would you rather  Think of appropriate questions to ask in this way to gain insight into each other and to practice supporting a position or opinion.  A couple of ideas – Would you rather be on a team that played sports for fun and companionship or to win?  Would you rather be a fish or a bird?  Would you rather become a jet pilot or become a medical doctor?

        What are you looking forward to, this week, this month, this year.

After dinner and dessert, a clean up plan should be established ahead of time.  A meal that ends with bickering over who washes the dishes can spoil the connections.  Some alternatives are:

        If you don’t cook, you clean up

        Alternate weekly – washing dishes, clearing table

        Random results – roll a dice

Take some time to really be together.  Quantity and quality of time spent both count for strongly bonded families.  And a bonus is a meal like this for certain would be a hygge family moment.

Connect with your heart.