Are you tired of those days spent rushing around and stressed at dinner prep time?

Those days when you just arrived home after running around with after school activities or you’ve had a full on day yourself and all you want to do is collapse into a chair and have someone bring YOU a cup of tea! The kids are cranky,
homework needs doing, washing still on the line – 0h wait – you forgot to hang it out..ahhhh!
Toys everywhere and that constant Mum MuM MUM, can we have? – can we do? – he did this – she said that!!!! To top it off you forgot to take something out of the freezer for dinner!
Sounding familiar?

In the midst of the chaos

STOP – BREATHE – SMILE
Breath in love
Breath out gratitude
What can you and the family do differently if anything to prevent this happening?

No matter what age kids love to be involved, it is amazing for their self esteem, sense of belonging, feeling important and valued.
Create “little helper’s” out of your little darlings or big darlings. Have tasks to do each day around dinner preparation, involve your precious ones in the process from prep, eating and cleaning up. Sometimes it will be fun and other times a real drag! For both you and the kids!
I involved my boys at a very early age in the preparation and cooking of meals and snacks. Firstly in their high chairs and as soon as they could sit safely on the counter they were right there in the action! Messy –YES, time consuming –YES, beneficial- OH YES!!!!! Worth it – ABSOLUTELY!!
Both are now young men, are wonderful cooks and understand the value of good healthy nutritious food as it relates to their health as well as their taste.

Simple tasks to begin with for the wee ones like picking up some of the toys, not all of them just a selected few. Bringing you a tea towel or just sit them with you to be part of the process.
Have a family meeting, make some special healthy treats and write up together how everyone is going to contribute to making prep and dinner time FUN for everyone!
You may want to set up a weekly or monthly reward (whatever you as a family come up with) Please don’t make it a trip to – I don’t even want to write it – so I guess you know where I mean.
If you choose to make it food related, how about a trip to a new healthy cafe or to a farmers market.
My boys loved books or a trip to the museum to weird and wonderful or for my youngest anything to do with Cricket was always a big hit!
You know your families loves and I’m sure they will be happy to give you ideas of rewards/ways of thanking each other.
You will have to decide what the ‘little helper’s” tasks will be and how they will be acknowledged.

Involving them with what you are doing and why you’re doing it, is invaluable. Talking to them about why you are doing whatever it is with the food you are cooking and why it’s good for them can have huge benefits, for life. It may seem like a right royal pain in the you know where, but trust me it will be one of the greatest gifts you can give your kids.

You know your family and what goes on in your house. I used to love getting the washing off the line – I loved the smell of it – still do. I remember my dad made a clothesline for me at my height so I could help mum hang out the washing. We always helped with the prep, clearing the table and dishes in some form through our different ages. Mum was delighted when I showed a great interest in cooking – she had many nights off relaxing as I cooked dinner for the family. So there are long term rewards for this.

Be creative and above all make it FUN!

Meal time is a fun family time to come together and enjoy a meal so lovingly prepared by Mum Dad or whoever cooks and connect with your loved ones and share you day with each other.

I highly recommend TV be turned off and no phones at the table, I’ll go so far as saying put them on mute – unless you are on call for some reason. But please away from the table.

How relaxed and happy you are when you eat makes a BIG difference to how the food is digested.
Not only will all of this be valuable to them in terms of their relationship with food and connecting with the whole family, it will also do wonders for their self-esteem.

Please share you feedback on the wonderful things you do to involve your families at meal times. Any wonderful tip you feel may be useful for others. What worked for you and what didn’t work so well?

Love to hear from you

Karen