Eating together
It is with a great sense of relief and encouragement that I have come across a review of the book, THE SURPRISING POWER OF FAMILY MEALS: How Eating Together Makes Us Smarter, Stronger, Healthier and Happier, by Miriam Weinstein.
I recently heard or read that Kathy Letts, that well-known expatriate Australian, has rid her London house of the dining room table so that the room could become a home theatre. I was horrified. She said that, if the family wanted to eat together, they went out to eat. More horror! What about privacy - what if something unforeseen invaded mealtime: argument and debate, outrageous laughter and hysteria, practical jokes. All of these I have known to arise at family meal time and a good thing too. But what happens in a restaurant or some public eating place: a child’s terror of having to behave?
I loved the outcome that eating together correlates with kindergarteners being better prepared to learn to read. Food, family, and reading. A wonderful combination.
