Whether you’ve just popped a Dream Dinners entrée into the oven or spent an hour or more cooking a meal from scratch, you want your family to enjoy their time together while eating.
Yet nothing’s more frustrating than having kids gulp down food in mere minutes, fuss through a meal or otherwise be uncooperative during dinnertime. It can be especially tough with babies, toddlers and preschoolers. Their hunger comes on its own schedule, not often in sync with the family meal. Juggling your own cooking tasks with their demanding needs can turn a daily event from calm to chaotic.
What’s a busy mom to do? Put a few strategies in place! We discovered a terrific article with ideas from moms all over the country at Parents.com. Written by Tricia O’Brien, it affirms everything we at Dream Dinners believe – that creating quality time around the table is one of the most important things you can do for your family.
The Family Dinner
How to make supper last more than 5 minutes.For most moms, getting the clan to the table (and keeping them there) takes some wrangling. Chances are, once the kids are belted into their high chair or booster seat, food flies, the baby cries, and the dinnertime din sends stress levels soaring. We asked moms for their secrets — the little tricks they use to get their tykes to stay put, eat something other than chicken fingers and mac ‘n’ cheese, and begin to grasp the value of sharing meals together. Here’s how moms serve up some sanity at dinnertime.