Family Dinners Are Important

Family dinners are a great way to stay connected with your kids.

Family dinners definitely fall under the category that "more is better." And a new study is showing that the more often the entire family sits down to eat dinner the better it is for the kids overall.

As a matter of fact, study after study has shown the great benefit of the family meal. Sitting down with your kids and talking about the day is a great way to keep connected and find out what's going on in their lives. It also helps in more ways than you'd probably think. Children who eat at least 3 sit-down dinners with their family every week are also less likely to smoke, drink or use drugs. They also tend to do better in school and are less likely to engage in sex at an early age.

But in this new study, researchers found that with each additional dinner added per week the children ended up having fewer emotional and behavioral problems as well. They also ended up having a higher life satisfaction overall.

Granted, we all have busy schedules and with a busy day at work, hectic after school activities and homework, it get tougher and tougher to sit down together and eat a meal. The important part isn't what's served, but what's talked about at the table. Use this as an opportunity for your children to share what "they" want to. They might not want to talk about everything that went on that day, especially if something is particularly bothering them, so don't push the issue. Just let them know you're there to listen. And when they do bring up controversial subjects, like drugs or sex --- don't judge them since that'll just cause them to shut down, but give them your beliefs and then listen some more. So tonight, sit down and enjoy a meal with the most important people in your life.