The Family Dinner

With Nathan's new job, we had a big schedule shift in our home. Nathan is now commuting to Atlanta each day, where as before he was commuting 3 miles from our house. Luckily, when he took the job, he asked if he could work 7 am- 4pm so that he would still be home in the evenings to coach Wesley's teams, attend Bible Study and be home for dinner. Atlanta is about an hour commute from our house (with out traffic) and since Nathan leaves at about 6 am, he doesn't hit a lot of traffic in the morning, and in the afternoon, he can make it home in about 45 minutes.

With Nathan going to work earlier, we've been going to bed earlier, which has actually been really nice. We do have a TV in our room, so sometimes I will watch TV when he goes to bed, or I go to bed at 9:30 with him. Nathan's alarm goes off at about 5:30, and he is out the door at 6:00. I have been getting up at 6:00 myself to read, get on the treadmill, and to shower before my kids are up at 7:00. I never thought of myself as a morning person, but I am finding I really like this!! I even had time to blog this morning!

Back to my original thought.....The Family Dinner. I got a great book for Christmas called "The Family Dinner: Great Ways to Connect with your kid, one meal at a time." This is something that is so important to me. Our family eats dinner every night together. I have tried different things...like feeding the kids early, and letting them have dessert when we eat our dinner, or eating salad while the kids eat dinner, then eating dinner alone after the kids go to bed...and I have to say, I didn't like it. I felt so removed from them. I think it is so important that we all slow down, and take the time to eat and relate with each other. Some of the most profound (funniest) things Wesley says is around the dinner table. Last night Wesley was saying our dinner prayer and he said "Dear God, Help Allie to be a good kid, like me. Thank you for healthy food, and keeping us strong. Thank you for my Mom and Daddy, they are awesome. Amen." Nathan and I both opened our eyes and smiled at each other during that prayer, and what a sweet memory we'll look back on.

I bought this book to help me keep the tradition of family dinners going. I know that there will be a day when my kids will be wrapped up with sports and after school jobs, and the Family dinner will be harder and harder to achieve. I am hoping by then, that we will have a set night that we will be our family dinner night. I also love this book because it gives great recipes, traditions, and conversation ideas! Also, (this is one of my Family resolutions) this book has inspired me to have my children help prepare meals, and to cook from scratch- rather than so many processed foods. I usually cook every night (minus weekends) but at what I "cook" is debatable. We are also going have theme nights, like "Meatless Monday" and "Taco Tuesday." You can check it out here-

http://www.amazon.com/Family-Dinner-Great-Ways-Connect/dp/0446565466

Our other "Family Resolution" is to spend more quality time one on one with each child. I feel like I can do this daily because Wesley goes to school, and Allie and I have 3 hours of time together, and when Allie naps in the afternoon, Wesley and I get about two hours together, but this was a challenge for Nathan. So, we are now bathing the kids separate, and Allie gets a bath by Daddy each night, and that is their time together. Then after Allie goes to bed at 7:00, Nathan plays a board game with Wesley until his bed time at 7:30, and then reads the Bible to him, and goes over his sight words.