In this fast-changing world where lack of time affects our personal relations, the concept of family time has slowly almost vanished. I remember as a kid we would gather to watch TV, live in a joint family, meal times were like a small gathering in itself. Nowadays not only parents but even children do not have that easy lifestyle anymore. We are either glued to our work on our laptops or busy on our ‘social media lives’. But family time bonding is necessary for the kid to develop emotionally and also learn how to eat in a social setup. When your child eats with you both as parent and grandparents if you are lucky enough to stay in a joint setup, he will be a lesser picky eater and meal times wouldn’t be a task. Here is how you can make your dinner time, when you get to bond, truly:
Prep the dinner together
The first thing I often tell people is that eating and cooking are a basic life skill and every kid must know how to cook as it is handy for the rest of your life! Basic skills like chopping (with a kid special knife), tearing salad leaves or washing the dal are basic things you can let your child do. But make sure they are well supervised.
Turn off the cell phones
Cell phones are the biggest distraction thus it is necessary to turn them off when having dinner. This is the time when you are with your family only and make that a priority.
Make a routine for dinner
Making a routine for having dinner at the same time every day and sitting together during those few minutes discussing your day should be the highlight of your day!
Make your child try varied food
When you eat together, the chances of your child trying the food on your plate is higher. Develop their taste buds by trying at least one new dish in a week!
Weekends are for dessert
Decide on one weekend day and have your fill of junk food and desserts in that meal. Your child will look forward to the dinner too!
Conversations over dinner
Having conversations over dinner is a great idea. Talk to the kids about what happened in their school to how your office meeting went. Skip that TV and have a real-time discussion.
