This morning a blogging friend of mine sent me a link to a post she wrote that she thought I "might" find interesting. Was that an understatement.
Gal is Developmental Mommy and she writes interesting posts about child development and family dynamics. Her most recent post piqued my interest because it touches on something I consider sacred — the family meal.
The long and short of it is that there was a study done that suggests that family meals aren't necessarily beneficial. One of the professors from the study goes on to say "We find no relationship between family breakfasts or family dinners and any child outcomes — reading, math and science scores, or behavior problems”
Oh puhleeze.
I'm getting so sick of these "studies" that we are supposed to hold up as gospel truth because they are born out of academia. I'm about to sound like my mother here but these people have clearly had the common sense educated right out of them.
For thousands of years the family has been sitting down and breaking bread together daily. Thousands of years, people. Why now do we suddenly need to make a mockery of it?
Aside from the obvious — time spent together — eating meals together gives children a sense of routine and stability. It brings everyone together in a relaxed atmosphere where they laugh and sometimes even cry. It teaches good table manners and healthy eating. What other activity do you do daily that your entire family enjoys? Where else are you going to find this time? Probably not playing with your kids toys.
My instinct also tells me that spending time eating meals with my children is not only good for them, but for me.
So I'm going to file this study under useless and go think about what I'm making for dinner tonight.
How important is family meal time to you?
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