There is nothing that beats coming home to a home cooked meal and having family dinners together. After a long day at the office for parents or at school for the kids, it is such a pleasure to just unwind in the evening at the dinner table sharing a family meal together.

Having dinner with the family is so important to build family bonds. It allows us to communicate with the children and to learn more about their activities, what they have been up to at school and to listen to their problems.

The key is to have a conversation with the children so that they are willing to talk openly and not fear being scolded or reprimanded. Having dinner together certainly helps to cultivate an atmosphere of trust and openness among family members. There is no better time or place to talk and chit chat than during dinner time at the dinner table.

It is a fact that families that have dinner conversations together experience fewer problems with their children, especially pre-teens and teens. Having dinner together results in fewer problems with children smoking, taking or experimenting with drugs, having pre-marital sex and alcohol abuse.

A comprehensive report was published by The National Center on Addictions and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University. The report makes for very interesting and insightful reading.

It summarizes the importance of having dinner as a family in its finding: "..one factor that does more to reduce teens' substance abuse risk than almost any other is parental engagement, and one of the simplest and most effective ways for parents to be engaged in their teens' lives is by having frequent family dinners."

The report even goes so far as to co-relate the frequency of having dinner together as a family with the percentage of teenage drug abuse. And, get this - the report states that teens who have frequent family dinners are likelier to get better grades at school. You can read the full report here.

In our home, we make it a point for our children to have dinner together with us at the dinner table. Rarely do we allow them to watch TV while having dinner as that would defeat the purpose of communicating effectively.

We find that when we order take out food or fast food, the kids tend to take that as a cue to eat in front of the TV. But if we have a home cooked dinner, then it's a different thing and we all sit down at the dining table.

So, nourish your family bonds at the dinner table. We'll help provide the easy meal ideas so you can do just that!

Get Easy Recipes to Kickstart Your Family Dinners


Have Breakfast & Brunch With The Family Too - Get Recipes Here