Why You Should Spend Meals With Your Children
One of the few positive impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic is that it forced many families to have meals together. As the saying goes, “the family that eats together, stays together.” Now that world is slowly going back to normal, this is something parents may want to keep as a habit.
Read on to find out all the benefits eating meals as a family has on children.
Promotes good behavior
Home will always be a child’s first school. It is where one builds habits, manners, and even character. Family meal times may be more impactful on a child than you think. In fact, around the table is where they can first learn good manners and develop good behavior.
Eating together with your children will allow you to teach them good eating etiquette and table manners. This plays a big part in a child’s growth as this is where they first learn how to act around others and how society expects them to behave.
Strengthens bond and family attachment
If you want your child to grow up family oriented and create strong bonds with them, quality time is the best way to go. No matter what age your children are, meal times will always be a constant part and the in-between time of everyone in the family.
When a child grows up or is used to being around family during meals, they will develop a strong sense of belongingness. The sense of belongingness would also promote a sense of security and will allow children to grow up confidently knowing that their family will always have their back.
Develops good social skills
With the emergence of smartphones and tablets that enables early onset screen addiction and the pandemic which hindered social activities, a lot of children may find it hard to adjust to other people.
When families sit around the dining table together, the constant flow of communication allows children to be able to express their feelings and engage in daily conversation. This makes conversing a learned skill, which would be beneficial and become a big factor in the development of their social skills.
Assists in better eating habits
Are you familiar with the saying “food is love made visible”? Eating meals together at home enables parents to showcase love through home cooking. Don’t worry if you don’t cook, though. Simply being there and monitoring your children’s eating habits is already more than enough.
When parents eat together with their children, it is easy to monitor the food that they are consuming on a daily basis. This allows parents to be able to control food intake in a positive way by ensuring they eat good and nutritious food in healthy servings.
It is simply fun and enjoyable
Imagine meal times spent alone vs ones spent with family. It is very easy to see which one would make meals something to look forward to. A simple family meal routine can easily brighten up one’s mood. More importantly, it can be a routine passed down to your children and their future families.
Meal times occur at least twice daily. Each family member should find time to the best of their capabilities to spend at least 3 to 5 meals a week together. Besides, eating together as a family shouldn’t even be considered a responsibility or worse, a burden. It is something to look forward to.
We bet you didn’t know how impactful having meals as a family together is. Now that we have that all laid out, we do hope that it opened up your mind to the wonders this simple act can bring. Do let us know in the comments below if you’re already practicing this routine or if you’re just gonna start this habit now. Good luck with the kids and don’t forget to enjoy this time with them!
P.S. You can also assign tasks to your children such as washing the dishes to foster a sense of responsibility even at an early age.
Nature to Nurture’s Baby Bottle and Dish Wash is perfect especially when you want to give the task to younger children as our dish wash easily rinses out without leaving any chemicals behind. That’s right, our main cleaning agent is baking soda, which means you have nothing to worry about when it comes to safety and chemical toxicity. You can even use this to wash your fruits and vegetables.
