I grew up having family dinners. It was something we always did. All of my friends did it as well. There were evening activities, but it did not seem to interfere with the family dinner. We have raised the kids this way as well. There are times when this is not possible, like soccer season when the kids have practice from 5:30-7:00 between the different teams, or on Tuesdays when the girls have Honor Choir from 5:30-6:30 and Aidan has Boy Scouts from 7:00-8:30. Throw in the once a month Genealogy meetings in Schertz from 6:30-8:00 and you have a full evening away from home.
But as often as we can, we still sit down to a family meal. Not take out, we cannot afford to do that on a regular basis. We (me right now, and Scott when he is home) cook the meal, sometimes it is something frozen or quick, sometimes it is from scratch, sometimes it is half way between. This means no phones, no mp3 players, no DS, or any type of electronics at the table. The television is usually either off, on music, or the news. Mostly we try and turn it off. Aidan tells me that none of his friends have family meals. He says its dumb (usually when I am interrupting his gaming time), but I think he likes it. We talk about what is going on at school, in their activities, music, and just teen interests in general. It is amazing to me how much dinner conversation has grown. I have always banned talk of video games and tv, as I think there are more important topics to converse about.
As I said before, we cook our meals. The kids love going out to eat, but when you are a family of 6, that becomes a small fortune. So, as we cook meals, we explain to the kids the savings involved between cooking at home and eating out. Christmas Eve, we cooked prime rib with baked potatoes and asparagus with hollandaise sauce. We discussed with them how if you went out it would be $25 per person (at least), but by cooking the same meal at home it was less than $8 per person. They are amazed at how much it costs to go out to eat. We explain to them that we are paying for the food, the cook, the waitress, and the bus person as well as the owner. Plus, they are learning that Dad is a way better cook than any restaurant.
Sunday has traditionally been Steak Night. Steak, hash browns and spinach. Yep, my kids eat spinach (frozen, not canned). It was a tradition they my family had as far back as I can remember. My dad had said that he might have to eat crap all week, but on Sunday he wanted a steak. Of course the quality of steaks we had got better as Dad moved up the ladder. Scott was only too willing to continue this tradition. So for the past 16 and 1/2 years we almost always have steak on Sundays. Of course with him gone and Aidan having confirmation class from 4:30-6:00, it means grilling in the dark during the winter, but it is worth it. Luckily Scott had started using a timer, so I can just throw the steaks on and start the timer. When it beeps turn them over and when it beeps again, take them off. Don't need to see them, just well enough to know where they are on the grill. 4 minutes per side and a 2 inch thick steak is yummy.
I miss Scott, but he left enough steak seasoning premade for use to make it through the year, and to enjoy our family dinners!
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