Posted by: Trina | November 11, 2011

This article was given to us by Lynn Colwell co-founder of Celebrate Green

As that holidays approach we begin to think more and more of family and the importance of spending time together. Our lives are busier than ever and even simple things like eating dinner together have become a thing of the past for some. Our friends at Celebrate Green wrote a fantastic article regarding the importance of eating together as a family. Meal time is the one time of day when you can sit together and shared your lives. Coming together as individuals day after day, talking about the hurts and the highs, having fun at a meal, that creates a bond that holds us together.

Celebrate the family dinner

By Lynn Colwell at Celebrate Green

I've admitted it before here: I'm no cook. I don't enjoy any part of the process except the eating. And because there are so many things in life that I love doing, I have no interest in spending time involved in something that brings me no pleasure. That is why the raw movement got my attention. I never understood why we need to take time and effort to cook veggies and fruits when they are fine just as they are.

However, just like brushing my teeth and exercise, neither of which I enjoy, cooking is something I have to do sometimes. And when our children were growing up I did it every night (which no doubt fueled my distaste and which is why, I'm quite sure - and I do feel guilty for this - only one of our three children has the slightest interest in cooking).

Our Dinner Routine

My husband: "I'm home, honey, what's for dinner?"

Me: "I have no idea."

Fifteen minutes later:

Me: "OK everybody, wash up, set the table, dinner's ready!"

And I wasn't kidding. Not only did I develop methods for going from "I don't know" to on-the-table in a quarter of an hour, I pretty much made (notice I didn't say "cooked"), everything from scratch except for the occasional frozen veggie. The point of this post isn't to extol my 15 minutes cooking skills. It's to say that as easy as it might be to beat myself up over my complete and utter lack of interest in developing my culinary skills, I don't. I prefer on my stellar abilities that surfaced once we sat down to eat.

For me, eating together was at the heart of being a family.

It was the one time of day when we sat together and shared our lives. I had one-on-one time with the kids driving them to various appointments or shopping, but their dad didn't. And anyway, I believe it is the dynamic of five lives coming together as individuals day after day, talking about the hurts and the highs, having fun at a meal, that created the bond that to this day, holds us together.

Dinner time brought out my creativity. Occasionally we had a backwards dinner. Eat dessert first. What does it hurt? We'd switch roles with the kids being mom and dad or each other (a real eye-opener, believe me). I'd put a bowl on the table with sentence starters and everyone would draw one and talk about it. I initiated discussions about everything from what was on TV or in the news to how friends treat each other. We played made-up games.

No one noticed what they were eating anyway! (Which is one way I justified my lack of skill/interest in cooking.)

Seriously, it saddens me to realize how few families today spend time locked in the moment - together.

I feel intense happiness at the memory of our dinner table where our children learned how to start and participate in a conversation, how to listen, how to respect each other (and us), how to negotiate, express an opinion, and even tell a joke. Of course, it was a process (kids were kids - tired, grumpy, pea tossing - and sometimes we parents weren't far behind), but honestly I always approached dinner with an expectation and a hope that it would be a highlight of everyone's day, and often it was.

To read the rest of this article please do so on Generation Happy!

We are also running an fabulous Recipe Contest which could you could WIN some amazing prizes and also get some wonderful new ideas for your next family dinner!

GUEST BLOGGER

Lynn Colwell is the co author of Celebrate Green! Creating Eco-Savvy Holidays, Celebrations and Traditions for the Whole Family and one of the founders of the non-profit initiative, Green Halloween®. Last year, they launched National Costume Swap Day (Oct.8) as a way to encourage swapping costumes instead of tossing them. Check out Celebrate Green! at www.CelebrateGreen.net