The importance of dinner time

Dear patient Good Manners Fans,

My apologies for my absence from my blog.

I've been so busy with back to school activities and also some new product development for the Good Manners Kids Stuff site (and my real, day job) that I haven't had a minute to spare!

As has become my unfortunate habit, I promise you one type of post (last time I believe I said that pet manners would be my next topic) but then I change my mind and talk about something else. For those of you hankering for the pet manners post, I promise, it'll be soon. But in the meantime I thought I'd talk about the importance of dinner time.

Now that the Good Manners Daughters are back in school and all the activities have started in full swing, the Good Manners family rarely sits down together for dinner. I am ashamed to say that we are always eating pizza or McDonalds on our way to something or the other.

Eating together is important in so many ways:
*It gives you an opportunity to ask everyone about their day and really hear the answer;
*It fosters closer family relationships and studies show that it could help keep kids out of trouble;
*It's a lot healthier and less expensive to eat a meal prepared at home;
*It gives you a chance to reinforce some of those manners they don't get to use when eating pizza in the car such as saying grace (if that is important in your family) and using their napkins and utensils correctly.

(One of the products we developed are good manners plates and they will be up on the Good Manners website within the next week or so; I just have to approve the new artwork and upload it.)

Several days ago we made the effort to sit down together at the dinner table although we only had about 20 minutes before we had to leave for choir practice. The cupboard was pretty bare but I was able to put together a passable meal. Maybe not healthy, but certainly cheap and the Good Manners Family loved it.

The meal: Ramen noodle taco soup. Really. It was quite tasty. I added a can of tomato soup and a package of low sodium taco seasoning to the ramen noodles (and its chicken seasoning and water). And I whipped up corn bread.

Now, I assure you that I am a decent cook when I have the time and ingredients. But at least we got to sit down and spend some quality time with each other. And, isn't that what's most important?

Here's hoping that you and yours get to spend some quality time together this week.

Take care,

Leslie