It is fairly well known that if a family eats together then they will stay together. We live in a very technological world and so it can be very difficult getting everyone to sit at the table at one time and if you are the head of the family then it’s time that you drew a line in the sand and insisted that everyone come together at least once every few days. Shared meals are incredibly good for kids in a physical and psychological way. Children who eat at the dinner table and share their thoughts with their siblings and parents do better at school and get much higher grades than their counterparts who continue to play on their various devices.

You need to stop using the excuse as a parent that you are too busy trying to hold down a job to pay all of the bills. It’s time that you and your family started to enjoy the benefits of sitting down for a meal together and if you have to invest in things like a server cabinet to make the process easier then that is what you do. Anything that makes serving the meal more straightforward so that more time can be spent talking together is a huge plus and this is something that we all should be thinking about buying.

The following are just some top tips to make your family meals easier this year and every year.

• It doesn’t have to be everyday - Asking all of your family members to come together for a meal seven days a week is a large ask and so try to aim for something a little lower. Even if your family members only come together twice a week then this allows everyone to reap the benefits of doing so. It leads to better communication skills as children talk to their parents, which is very unusual in today’s society. The meals should be prepared with everyone’s health in mind and with everyone’s preferences as well.
• It can be at any meal - Don’t just restrict yourself to the evening meal after everyone has come home from work or came back from school. A family meal can be enjoyed just as easily at breakfast or lunch and the fact that it is happening at all is a huge plus. Sometimes everyone has such a busy schedule with doing homework or taking home work from the office that sitting down together in the evening can be a nonstarter.
• It doesn’t always have to be healthy - Sometimes it’s nice to treat your family to some of their favourite food and if this means that a little bit of junk food is to be enjoyed occasionally then that’s okay. Just make sure that you include lots of fresh fruit and vegetables into the mix and this will help to balance things out.

If you follow these three tips then there’s no reason to think that your family members won’t want to come together regularly.