Saturday, July 20, 2019

Making Mealtime (and Family Time) FUN





Dinner time can grow to be so monotonous. We are asked day after day,”What’s for dinner?” 

We grow tired of preparing the same meals, or we simply struggle to get our family all around the table at the same time to eat.

Over the years, our family had normal everyday dinners, and we had some pretty, fun out-of-the-ordinary-dinners. Times where we ate our meal in a different environment or manner - that just added some much-needed laughter and bonding to our evening. Those evenings made some great memories for us. And it doesn’t always have to take a lot of work. You can still cook grilled cheese sandwiches - but if you eat them out back in a tent? So much better! 

Here are a few ideas for you moms and dads. Hopefully, switching things up at your meal time once in a great while will become something your children adore and recall someday with great fondness. 



*Have a picnic on the floor.  INSIDE. Pull out a blanket, get out the paper plates and add the food! You can also have “set” questions everyone has to answer, if you want to add some family bonding time to the evening.

*Eat out on your deck or back porch.  Use either a picnic table, or set up a card table and enjoy the fresh air.

*Eat on your roof, if your kids are older. We sat up on our back roof one evening and looked at the sky and the landscaping around us, while we ate sandwiches. It was beautiful.

*Have festive napkins, glasses or fancy straws. You can have a regular dinner at the table, but insert a super fancy straw in their cup, or napkins that are silly.

*Allow your family to use chopsticks only instead of silverware. Had a stressful week? This one is bound to cause some laughter at the table!

*Make a rule that no utensils can be used at all!  Only hands.  Have finger foods, drink soup out of the bowl, etc.

*Have everyone grab a TV tray and pick out a family movie to watch while eating dinner. (If you often eat in front of the television, this one won’t seem super out of the ordinary. Might switch things around and move to the table!)

*Switch places at the table.  Everyone needs to sit somewhere other than their normal seat. It’s so simple - but it can really change things up.

*Make normal foods fun.  Add green food coloring to water, stick a Hershey’s kiss inside of a napkin, etc.

*Build an indoor fort and then eat under it.

*Have the kids prepare the meal AND clean up! But let them choose the meal, or make it an easy one for them, so that they don’t get frustrated. 

*Serve dessert FIRST!

*Let your kids drink meal or water out of fancy wine glasses. (You can often find plastic ones at the dollar store, too.)

*Light the candles! Who says candles are only for romantic dinners? They can really calm a frenzied, stressful day!


What are some of YOUR ideas? I’d love to hear!

Wednesday, July 10, 2019

Life Is About People. So Connect With Them.




Life is about people.

I think it’s so easy for us to forget that.

It’s about connecting with one another. It’s about relationships.

The more I’ve travelled, the more I’ve been amazed at how many people there are in the world. I fly into cities and I see how vast they are. Cities that are often overlooked, or not spoken of. Thousands of people. They live. They breathe. They go to work, they raise their kids, they deal with family drama, and illness.

They are just like you and I. They just so happen to live somewhere else. With a different culture. Different food. 

For a moment - we are able to LIVE life with those around us. We intersect and can connect with people we didn’t even know existed.

For a brief time, we are able to learn from each other. 

I have been able to live life for a few moments with the guy who took me paragliding in South Africa. Or the parking attendant who was trying to get back home to the Congo. For a few hours, I lived life with those on jury duty with me in Idaho. I lived life with those attending a conference alongside of me, or the waitress assigned to me at the restaurant.

So many moments we share with those we will never see again. And yet, somehow, certain moments become a part of our life. We treasure them - and the stranger who was a “friend” for a brief moment in time.

Did we leave better because of them? Did we leave THEM better off, because they met us?

And what about those we run into on a more regular basis? The people who attend church with us, live in our neighborhood, or stock our groceries at the store? 

We recognize them. Maybe, we even smile at them. But do we try to “connect” with them?  Do we make the most of our moments?

Life CAN be lived alone. But it’s not meant to be.

People are fascinating. Diverse. Engaging. And every person has a story. We can learn from them. Grow from knowing them. And let ourselves love and be loved.

The next time you fly, look at the city you are about to land in. The next time you take a road trip, or boat across the water. Look at all the buildings. The lights, the houses. So many people. So many people who want to be loved. Who want someone to connect with them. Someone to listen. Someone to care.

Even if it’s just for a moment when they serve you your ice cream, or help you find your destination - connect.

Connect.

And discover the beauty of relationships.

Even if that relationship lasts only a few minutes.  Even if that connection is but a passing encouragement.

Connect. And find that being connected is the most beautiful thing in the world.