Sitting down together for dinner is one of the most important things you can do as a family. However, with the daily stress of school, work, and extracurricular commitments, it’s far too easy to have rushed takeout dinners that no one really enjoys. Feeding young children who are picky eaters and can’t seem to sit still for more than two minutes at a time adds further stress to the equation. The following tips will help create stress-free weeknight dinners, creating a fun atmosphere everyone looks forward to after school and work.
Keep the food simple
Kids don’t have the patience to sit through a five-course dinner and won’t appreciate the effort you went through for it. A good family dinner doesn’t have to involve fancy food. Choose meals your kids will like that the adults in the house look forward to eating as well. During different stages in your life, such as having toddlers underfoot or rushing off to sports with teenagers, you may need to embrace batch cooking and slow cooker meals. Don’t ever feel like you need to apologize for these choices. Your kids will remember that you all sat down as a family for meals, not that you weren’t cooking from scratch every single night.
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Choose one or two dinner themes
Having a theme for every single weeknight dinner isn’t a good idea. While your kids may not ever get tired of eating ground beef tacos or macaroni and cheese, you’re likely to tire of it pretty quickly. However, having one or two dinner themes each week takes some of the stress out of menu planning and gives kids meals they look forward to all week. For themed nights, create a small rotation of favorite recipes. For example, for taco night, find several taco recipes your family likes or create taco variations, such as taco bowls or taco salads.
Plan the menu for the week ahead
With a couple of standard dinner themes, you only have to select a handful of dinner dishes each week. Planning the menu for the next week gives you time to shop for ingredients and prep a few components, minimizing the time spent thinking about dinner during the week. As you meal plan, don’t forget side dishes. When you make the grocery list for the week, include breakfast and lunch items as well. On your meal plan, build in the occasional night for leftovers, to get takeout, or to go to a restaurant.
Do some meal prep
Allocate an hour or two during the weekend or early in the week to prep a few food items for the week ahead. Find a time that works best for you, so you’re more likely to stick with it. Prep items that keep and reheat well, such as baked potatoes and sweet potatoes, hard boiled eggs, and roasted vegetables. Don’t limit your weekly meal prep to dinner. Making breakfast items and snacks in advance, such as overnight oatmeal, hummus, and granola bars, will also help your week go more smoothly.
Make breakfast for dinner
Breakfast for dinner is a great weeknight meal because it’s quick, and kids are sure to love it. Your children will get just as excited about pancakes from a mix as they will about a casserole, if not more so. Whip up a batch of waffles or pancakes or make plates of scrambled eggs, bacon, and sausage. Include the occasional fun treat with breakfast for dinner, such as whipped cream on waffles or fruit faces on pancakes.
Provide fun placements for the kids
Giving kids interactive placements keeps them entertained while they’re eating. They won’t get frustrated trying to make tons of conversation, and you may actually get a few minutes to talk to your spouse uninterrupted. Disposable placements are a nice option because kids can color on them, and when you’re done eating, you simply throw them away. Look for disposable placements with coloring designs or purchase plain placements and let them draw whatever they like. Rubber placements are another good option, as they’re durable and easy to clean. With a small selection of rotating placements, kids will enjoy the puzzles and games on the mats.
Provide games and conversation starters
It’s nice not to have an agenda for every single weeknight meal. However, the conversation may feel forced when everyone is tired after a long day of school and work. If your kids have grown weary of discussing their days or your husband doesn’t want to give a play-by-play of a meeting, switch up the routine with a game or conversation jar. Encourage kids to add their own conversation starters to the jar. It may sound corny, but kids will look forward to choosing conversation starters, knowing they may pull one they contributed.
Decorate the dining space and light a few candles
There’s no reason that you should save your table décor and good candles for holidays and special occasions. Sitting down to eat dinner as a family is important and deserves a little recognition. Put up a few seasonal or holiday decorations. Encourage your kids to help you select decorations or make decorations together. As you set the table for dinner, take a few extra seconds to light the candles. The little touches will make you that much more appreciative of your dinner time together.
Be realistic about your expectations for dinner table etiquette
It’s important to use family dinner to teach kids good manners. However, it’s easy to get carried away or set standards that are too high. Even on their best behavior, five-year-old children may not ever sit still for more than five minutes at a time and will interrupt you constantly. Choose your battles wisely. It’s okay to have a few hard rules, such as always clearing your own plate and not throwing food. Then you can relax a bit on other rules, such as sitting still or not interrupting.
No one is perfect, and not every dinner is one you’ll want to remember ten years later. Don’t beat yourself up when your best-laid plans don’t go exactly as anticipated. Your kids won’t hate you for it, so don’t hate yourself for it. Start fresh the next day, letting bygones be bygones when you get to the dinner table.