Snacks and Meals
May 12, 2008
Did you know? In families that watch tv during meals, kids eat fewer fruits and vegetables. They consume more pizzas, snack foods, and sodas than kids in families who turn off the tv's.
Mothers and Meals
May 5, 2008
I remember being a new mom and ravenously hungry, but unable to eat at the moment because my baby was even hungrier than I. So I sat down and nursed him...and my mother, half as a joke, cobbled together a lunch, took up a spoon, and began to feed me.
What Can a Two-Year-Old Do?
April 28, 2008
Did you know? In the past twenty years, the number of married Americans who report that their family "usually eats dinner together" declined by one third.
Picture Perfect Moments
April 21, 2008
Wandering around the Internet, I have been surprised and touched by what people choose to post on the subject of family meals.
This is What Perfect Looks Like
April 14, 2008
One member of my family can never seem to make it to the table without be called half a dozen times. (We are not naming names here, but he knows who he is.) Another always regards the food on her plate with suspicion, poking a fork into whatever is served, as if looking for worms.
Starving for Time
April 7, 2008
Did You Know? Twenty-one percent of teens rated "not having enough time together with parents" as their top concern.
What Are You Saving the Good Dishes For?
March 31, 2008
Sometimes, on those days when my friend Betsy only has enough energy for take-out Chinese, she gives herself, and her family, a lift, by serving the meal on her mother's "good" dishes — fine china with hand-painted orange chrysanthemums. She tells her kids to be super careful, and they are so impressed that they generally are.
The Family Team
March 24, 2008
Did you know? Over a recent 16-year-period, the amount of time that children spent watching other people (like their siblings) play sports rose five-fold.
Thank the Cook
March 17, 2008
Did you know? Children and teens who eat family dinners eat more fruits and vegetables, and less fried food.
Eat Facing Each Other
March 10, 2008
I have been collecting images of families eating together across many cultures and down through centuries of time. Whether they squat on jungle floors, sit cross-legged on carpets, recline on mats, or sit around open fires, they have one thing in common: they all eat facing each other.
What To Talk About At Mealtimes
March 3, 2008
Did You Know.....Kids bring up an average of six different topics per meal.
Parents and Grandparents Remember
February 25, 2008
Did you know? Foreign-born children are more likely to eat family meals than are native-born children with foreign-born parents. And both those groups eat more meals together than do families in which everyone is native-born.
What Kids Learn at the Table
February 18, 2008
Did You Know...Preschoolers increase their vocabulary by being part of dinner table conversation. This larger vocabulary helps them in school – in kindergarten and beyond.
Order out of Chaos
February 11, 2008
I recently found a photo taken in the aftermath of the 1906 earthquake that leveled the city of San Francisco. The hundred-year-old black and white image shows a burned-out and shattered cityscape.
Food from the Heart
February 4, 2008
When Mr. Rogers used to sing, "There are many ways to say I love you. There's the cooking way to say I care about you," preschoolers and grown ups alike knew just what he meant. So why not make a special family dinner for Valentines Day?
The One Right Way – Not!
January 28, 2008
I'm guessing that, early on in the parenting experience, you had the same realization that I did: No one has all the answers. A large part of it is made up as we go.
The Magic Chair
January 21, 2008
When my first child was little, we splurged on the purchase of an all-purpose chair. It was made out of wood, and came with its own Allen wrench. The maker promised that we could reconfigure it over and over again. It could hold anyone from a six-month-old to a small adult. We were skeptical, but we needed somewhere to put the baby.
Family For A Day
January 14, 2008
Okay, so I am that old. I remember when our family first got a tv. My mother, being up-to-date, set places for the kids at the coffee table, where we sat on the floor and ate while, in the days of only three stations, we watched Queen for a Day. My father, who could hear the show from the dining room, kept up a running critique of what he called the sob stories. (Women, often in tears, would tell the sad tales of their lives. The audience applauded; the winner went home with a washer or a refrigerator.)
TV or not TV?
January 7, 2008
Did you know? A study at Baylor Medical College found that kids who are overweight were more than twice as likely as normal-weight kids to eat supper in front of the TV.
Mark Your Calendars!
January 2, 2008
Did you know...seventy-eight percent of families say that they have a family dinner at least a few times a week.
A Steady Point in a Swirling World
December 26, 2007
Did You Know...For children who have asthma, if families maintain regular rituals like eating dinner together, kids miss fewer days of school, have fewer emergency room visits and hospitalizations.
Tastes of Tradition
December 17, 2007
At this time of year, when we think about how things have "always" been, one of the most direct ways to access that elusive "always" is by making and serving traditional foods.
Ritual Time
December 10, 2007
Did You Know....A review of 50 years of research about families concluded that rituals, "convey 'this is who we are' as a group and provide continuity in meaning across generations." Social scientists view rituals as routines with symbolic meaning; not to be confused with religious rituals.
Teenagers Benefit from Regular Family Meals
December 3, 2007
Did You Know...Only a third of kids in grades 11 and 12 have dinner with their families on a regular basis? Yet study after study shows that teenagers benefit from regular family meals.
What's Left Over During Holiday Times
November 27, 2007
After the holiday meal, I have a hard time throwing out that turkey carcass. I find a big pot, throw in a bunch of left-over vegetables, and produce turkey soup. My friend, Patricia, uses the ham bone from her Christmas open house to make split pea soup. It's good to have something simple and warm to get the family through the hectic holiday season.
Eating and Order
November 21, 2007
Did you know that girls who eat one or two family meals a week are more than twice as likely to have disordered eating as girls who eat three to four family meals a week?
Try It, You'll Like It
November 1, 2007
Did you know it can take eight to ten times for a child to try a new food before deciding she likes it? Scientists think our suspicions of new tastes come from the time when our ancestors roamed the jungles and plains, trying out unfamiliar species.
Welcome to Our Table
October 25, 2007
At my table, the placemats barely cover the stains made by years of homework assignments, sewing projects, mailings for causes I’m sure were important at the time. Sometimes family life is shiny and smooth. But from day to day, we are more likely to notice the scratches, the bumps.