Family Dinners

I grew up in a close-knit Italian family. My mom was a stay-at-home mom who kept a very clean house and clean, disciplined children. She had a delicious meal on the table every single night. Not until I became a mom myself did I realize what an amazing feat that was.

My father got home from work every night at 6pm. He would wash up, and we would all gather around the dinner table by 6:15. My sister, brother and I had to have an exceptionally good reason to miss dinner with the family. We could have plans before and after dinner. But for at least a half-hour, we committed to eating together.

When I became pregnant with my son, I told my husband that eating dinner as a family was one tradition I definitely wanted to keep. Yet, now that my kids are both toddlers, and my husband's work schedule is unpredictable, I find that we are only able to all sit down together three to four nights a week. Reluctantly, I admit that it is sometimes easier for me to make two separate dinners. The kids usually get hungry earlier than my husband and me, and most times they request what they want to eat. An earlier dinner leads to an early bath time and usually an earlier bedtime. And though I feel bad that my husband doesn't eat with the kids every night, it is nice to have dinner with him alone so we actually speak without having to deal with tantrums, demands, spills and complaints.

But looking back at my childhood, those dinners created many treasured memories. Yeah, there was a lot of fighting…along good laughs and conversation. So my family keeps trying to make family dinners possible— at any expense. Any suggestions on how to make these meals easier to schedule and more fun?