This is a guest post on the EasyStand Blog by Joan Celebi of Special Needs Parent Coach.
As parents, we know dinnertime’s important. We want to serve well-balanced, tasty meals, and we want to spend quality time as a family. Yet it can be a challenge for busy moms and dads to pull this off every evening. Try these 9 strategies for getting dinnertime under control. You may even notice your more peaceful evening meals having a positive effect on the rest of your life too!
1. Plan meals ahead. I know, it sounds tedious. But here’s a quick way to do meal planning that takes just minutes. It’s a small investment of time, with a big payoff in terms of the time and energy you save throughout your week.
Cayden can see his family better and engage in the conversation when he sits "up" more in his EasyStand Bantam.
* On the weekend, write down a list of the meals you’ll serve during the coming week. Get input from your spouse and kids. And have the calendar handy, so you’ll know which days you’ll need to have something quick and easy on hand, and which days you’ll have time for a dinner that needs a little more preparation.
* Once you have your plan, make a list of the ingredients you’ll need, and keep it handy for your next trip to the grocery store.
Once you get into the meal planning routine, it will feel effortless. And there’s a bonus: your entire week will feel amazingly more streamlined and organized, even in ways that have nothing to do with cooking. You’ll save money on the grocery bill, too!
2. Consider grocery delivery. Is there grocery delivery in your area? Once you’ve planned your meals for the week, it’s easy to take your list to the computer and place your order. Especially for those weeks when things get really hectic, this is well worth the delivery fee!
3. Prepare ahead. Starting to cook dinner when the kids are already tired and hungry — and when YOU’RE tired and hungry — is really hard, especially if this is your pattern day after day. Are there other times during the day when you’re in the kitchen and can do a little preparation towards dinner? Washing, chopping, and cooking ahead, done in small moments here and there throughout your day and week, can help your dinner preparations go much more smoothly.
Try this: When you come home from the grocery store, do a few little food prep right then and there. Wash the lettuce. Rinse the grapes. Shred some cheese, grate some carrots, do some peeling, chopping, slicing — whatever you have time for. Kids might enjoy helping with some of this.
4. Double batch. When you do your weekly meal planning, plan one meal that’s easily double-batched. Package the extras in single servings for easy reheating when you’re in a time crunch!
5. Many hands make light work. Team up with friends or family, buy ingredients in bulk, and have a cooking day every other month. It’s fun, and everyone takes home a variety of dishes to freeze and enjoy over the next days and weeks.
6. Start early. How long does it take you to get dinner on the table, from start to finish? Start 15 minutes earlier than usual. By building in extra time, dinner preparations will feel less rushed. You’ll have more patience for the little interruptions and incidents that crop up every day around this time! You and the family will feel more relaxed, which in turn sets the mood for a happier evening meal together.
7. Spark some conversation. Dinnertime conversation is an important way we form strong family bonds. To get the conversation going, buy or make some conversation cards. Or use photos, drawings, pictures cut from magazines, or even small objects for a quick and easy way to get family members of all ages and abilities talking. Keep the topics light and fun. No matter how your family communicates, conversation starters like these help get everyone involved.
8. Choose your battles. Do you find yourself being the “manners police” at dinnertime? Decide which dinnertime rules are important to you, and which ones can you overlook. By taking some of the pressure off your kids, you also take some of the pressure off yourself. Allow yourself the pleasure of simply enjoying your children’s company at dinnertime. Save the correcting and the teaching for only when it’s absolutely necessary.
9. Get as much help as possible.
-Give your kids small jobs according to their age and abilities. Over time, they’ll master these jobs and be a real help in the kitchen. Make a game out of it, use a sticker chart, make up songs … this can actually be fun!
- Have a plan for how and when your spouse will pitch in. What tasks? Cooking? Cleaning up? And on what days?
- I’m willing to bet there are people around you who wish they could help you out somehow. Some of these folks would be happy to bring over a meal from time to time. If you’re not comfortable asking, have a friend organize this for you.
- Is there a healthy takeout option near you? Once in a while, in a pinch, get an entree and serve with your own sides of fresh veggies and fruit.
What dinnertime strategies work for your family? How do you keep dinnertime healthy, stress-free, and fun?
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