The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) created Family Day – A Day to Eat Dinner with Your Children™ in 2001, as a national effort to promote family dinners as an effective way to reduce substance abuse among children and teens. Family Day is celebrated on the fourth Monday in September. But why wait? Long summer days and no homework make it easier to eat four or more nights together. (And summer reruns means you can eat with the TV off, too.)

Yes, we’re all busy, but did you know that children and teens who have frequent family dinners:

• are at half the risk for substance abuse compared to teens who dine with their families infrequently
• are less likely to have friends or classmates who use illicit drugs or abuse prescription drugs
• have lower levels of tension and stress at home
• are more likely to say that their parents are proud of them
• are likelier to say they can confide in their parents
• are likelier to get better grades in school
• are more likely to be emotionally content and have positive peer relationships • have healthier eating habits (it’s easier to detect an eating disorder, too)
• are at lower risk for thoughts of suicide
• are less likely to try marijuana or have friends who use marijuana

According to Time magazine’s June 4, 2006 article, "The Magic of the Family Meal", which covered the CASA study, families who make meals a priority also tend to spend more time on reading for pleasure and homework.

Here are some tools to help you get started:

• TV Land’s Family Table with ideas on conversation starters and fun activities you can do at the table during dinner. (While you’re there, sign up to take the pledge to Get Together on Family Day on September 25!)
• The Surprising Power of Family Meals: How Eating Together Makes Us Smarter, Stronger, Healthier, and Happier – Author Miriam Weinstein shows you how to make regular family meals work for you, and how to encourage conversation with your love ones. She also gives tips on how to cook the way you want to and use family meal times to prepare your children for the real world.
• Saving Dinner: The Menus, Recipes, and Shopping Lists to Bring Your Family Back to the Table – Also known as the FlyLady, Leanne Ely’s cookbook is perfect for busy parents who would love to have their family sitting around the dinner table enjoying a nutritious meal and good conversation. Divided up by the season, each section features six weeks of menus including recipes, side dish suggestions, and an itemized grocery list. She features a lot of crock pot and soup recipes. (If you like the book, you may want to sign up at SavingDinner.com for a menu mailer service.)

Finally, why not make reading a part of your family meal? When we go out to eat, we love to linger over dessert and coffee. Even if it’s cookies, herbal tea, and milked warmed up in the microwave, you can create a similar feeling at home. The older kids can read to the parents, maybe from a book assigned at school or the newspaper. For the younger ones, read to them while the kids enjoy their warm milk. It’s a great way to get them sleepy, and ready for bath and bedtime.

Here’s some suggested reading for the little ones:

• Little Mama Forgets (Melanie Kroupa Books)- For preschool through grade 2. Out of our collection of Lucy books, this beautifully illustrated tome features a young Hispanic granddaughter and her grandmother, or Little Mama. Little Mama, like many elderly grandparents, is losing her memory. But instead of being sad about it, Lucy remembers all the wonderful things she does remember, like dancing and stories of growing up in her village. This would be a good book for explaining Alzheimer’s to small children.
• Hippo! No, Rhino – For preschool through grade 2, it’s a silly story about the rhino being mistaken for a hippo due to the wrong sign being put in front of his enclosure.
• If You Were a Parrot – Appealing to children 4 to 8 years old, this book asks children to use their imagination in wondering what a pet parrot does all day. Like all books from Sylvan Dell Publishing, The Creative Mind section features a craft, parrot facts, and information to find out if your child is ready for a pet parrot.

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