Real Food, Real Conversation

In a Pizzaria a family of three is sitting in a booth and there seems to be an air of discomfort exuding from the parents.  Their son is sitting across from them but in the forty five minutes the family is there the son never takes  his eyes off his Nintendo Game Boy.  His parents ask him questions and he never looks up.  He never looks up from his  Game Boy and his slice of pizza stays in its place with out ever being eaten.  Does this sound familiar? 

The art of conversation is dying among families at the dinner table.  Parents are getting home later and later from work allowing even less time to be with their families, let alone sit down and have a real meal with them.   Many children come from single parent families so having a sit down dinner is not often on the agenda.  As children get older their schedules now affect how often they are able to be home for a family meal.  Many times, there is more than one child, causing a multitude of scheduling issues and less time between soccer practice and basketball practice to sit down to eat and chat.

Of course, there is also technology that accompanies the problems of conversation at dinnertime.  The phone is ringing at home and when you are at a restaurant the cell phone is ringing.  The ringer may have been  turned off but now answering an important email or text can not wait.  Game Boy’s and Wii’s are also portable and consume the attention of the children playing them.  When is enough…enough?

Families who sit down for dinner discover themselves through conversation.  No phones, no computers, no PlayStations, no Nintendo’s.  Excluding these for half an hour during dinner will open up doors of communication your family may have never had.  It may make changes such as better grades, openness, build self confidence, and of course, a sense of closeness.  Take the challenge.  Sit down, turn everything off, and open your mouths to some good food and conversation.  You may be very surprised where it can take you!