Here’s a question: what’s the best part of your day? It's coming home to the people you love most in the world, right?It's even better when you have homecooked food on the table and nothing else to do but sit, eat and be in each other’s company. It’s a simple act, but nothing compares to that ultimate feeling of home. Family meals are a space to unwind, and more importantly, bond.
“Dinner can be a wonderful time to hear about everyone's day or anything else your kids want to talk about that you don't usually take the time to discuss,” Vicki Panaccione, Ph.D., founder of the Better Parenting Institute in the U.S. told Parenting.
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And chatting, though seemingly ordinary, can have big impact on well-being. “Regular family meals are probably the best psychological 'daily vitamin' parents can give their children,” said Carleton Kendrick, a family therapist and author of Take Out Your Nose Ring, Honey, We're Going to Grandma's.
To highlight our point, here are a few moving videos on family dinners:
1. Lucky Me’s Hapag Usapan
Here's a throwback to 2013. A commercial for Monde Nissin's Lucky Me, it shows how sitting down for dinner is not enough. Being present in mind and heart is what completes a family dinner table.
2. Masterfoods' #MakeDinnertimeMatter
The video asks one question to parents, “Who would you most like to have dinner with?” Answers varied from Kim Kardashian to Nelson Mandela. It was a different story when it was the kids’ turn to be asked the same question. Can you guess what they said?
3. President's Choice's #EatTogether
Just like the video showing kids on devices who don't even notice that their parents have been replaced by strangers, the message of this video is clear: disconnect from gadgets to reconnect to those that really matter. As Pope Francis said, devices don't belong on the dinner table.
So, what’s for dinner, mom?
Sources: The Atlantic, Parenting
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