Now that our eldest is off to college it’s been sort of quiet at the house with the just the three of us there.  Without “big sister” there for William to annoy the playful (and not so playful) yelling - “Get of my room”, etc. - has ceased.

I’m alright with that, it’s natural, kids grow up.  But what I’m not so happy about is the way I’ve become lax at dinner time.  Between evening swimming, sports, driving lessons, after school classes for my son and work projects and errands that my husband and I tend to, we’ve been missing the family dinner hour more often than not.

You see, we live near my parents, so my son pops by their place every day after school or other activities, chats, does homework and eats dinner with them.  He does this as much for them as for himself (my mother cooks really well).

Because I’m often away and my husband works late, we get together as a family to eat only about 3 times a week. The thing is when we do sit down to eat together, that’s when we have some of the best conversations.

In fact, I think that is one the things we like best about our family road trips…we’re sitting down together for an hour or more at every meal (except maybe breakfast) and we’re conversing and laughing and rediscovering at every meal how much we have in common, how much we love the quirks in our family and how thankful we are for each other.

That got me thinking that I have to make a greater effort to bring our family together for dinner more often throughout the week.  We’re never getting these years back so why not shift priorities to allow us to savor those important moments more.

How’s family dinner hour at your home? Is it something you do each or almost each day? Can you share any tips on how you’re able to get busy teens and parents together for dinner as often as possible?