When my siblings and I were growing up, we would set the table every evening and sit down to eat dinner with our parents. During this time, we discussed how our day had gone with one another and engaged in discussion about a variety of topics. Now that I have my own family, my husband and I try to make sure that we eat together as a family daily but there are many distractions that we have to compete with.
These days, we live in a technologically advanced society and it can sometimes be difficult to tear the kids away from their video games or tablets. Many families struggle with finding balance between using electronics and fostering meaningful communication with one another. Launching this week The Billion Family Dinners Challenge calls for busy Americans to re-connect at mealtime.
Support for shared family meals has grown in recent years, with studies from leading researchers in family psychology finding benefits from decreasing cyber bullying to increasing literacy. The Billion Family Dinners Challenge launches simultaneously with National Family Meals Month™, a movement in September encouraging families to eat one more meal at home per week.
The Billion Family Dinners Challenge aims to bring people together by challenging families nationwide to achieve one billion shared meals – encouraging others to join by logging their experiences on social media and the DinnerCall app. Instead of preaching to families to unplug and shun tech at the dinner table, DinnerCall suggests families embrace mobile tech as the hub of our lives, using the app to find table topics, share photos and encourage other families to join.
To participate in The Billion Family Dinners Challenge, users should download the free DinnerCall app to track their family dinners and share their experiences with the hashtag #BillionDinners. Using the DinnerCall app, participants can upload images from family dinner to instantly share on social media, track other family dinners in progress and enjoy helpful conversation starters. The DinnerCall app is available through the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.
This is a great way for families to reconnect and participate in a movement that will encourage spending quality family time while embracing modern technology. As a mother, I can see nothing but positive outcomes from proactively connecting with my children on a daily basis. It is a connection that is sure to transcend time and space.
To join in tracking 10 Family Dinners in 2 weeks, take the #billiondinners challenge today! The 10 in 2 challenge is simple: sit down to 10 family meals in the next 2 weeks. In just 10 meals, you’ll begin to see a difference. In just 10 meals, dinnertime will be something your family looks forward to each night.
Let’s Discuss: What are some of the ways that you connect with your family for meals during the week?
Disclosure: I wrote this compensated post as part of my participation in a blog tour for Billion Dinners and received compensation to thank me for taking the time to participate. However, all opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
© 2015, Tough Cookie Mommy. All rights reserved.
It’s just me and the kids for weeknight dinners, but we sit down together and discuss our days. My girl is a talker, so she tends to dominate the conversation. 🙂
Having dinner together is a must in my family. It’s our way of catching up on each other’s day to day activities.
It was a must when I was growing up as well. You can learn a lot about what is going on by listening to your children at the dinner table.
This is such a great idea. It’s so hard to get everyone to sit down together for dinner but such a highlight of the day when we do.
Eating dinner together as a family is very important. We make it a point to always eat dinner together.
We are always on the go during the week, but we make it a point to have a Sunday dinner together!
One of my best memories growing up was family dinner. People don’t do it enough now a days. This is a great challenge.
I live alone now but I do go out to lunch with my Mom at least once a week. Back when I was growing up every night we all sat down and had dinner together and unless I was really sick and in bed with a high fever–that is where I spent every dinner–at the table with my Mom and Dad!
We’re in! We have dinner together EVERY night. Most of the times at the dinner table, sometimes at a restaurant.
This is a great incentive! I’ve seen families literally changed when they decided to start eating dinner together.
We like to cook together as a family. That definitely helps make memories 🙂
This is such a great idea. One thing we always do is eat dinner together. We turn off our phones and the TV and catch up.
This is such a fun way to encourage family time. It will be fun to hear other family stories that other people share too.
Now that my daughter is in college, we miss that part. We always have had dinner at the dinner table. It was a time of sharing, conversations, ideas.
This is one thing we try to do is have dinner together every night.
I’ve always felt this is such an important part of a day. I feel like real connections are made over meals.
The hubs & I sit at the table & talk about our day. It’s good to dump out everything 🙂
One of my favorite is we all sitting down together with family for a dinner. because we have different schedules.
We eat dinner as a family every night. We talk about our day and share what we are looking forward to the next day. It’s a great time to sit, relax and talk!
I need to do this. We need that for our family to bring the family together more.
Now that my kids are in college it is harder to get together for dinners. I try to make sure my Daughter comes home on Sundays from school so we can have a good meal together.
I am so happy our family eats together every night. The kids may not like the meal – but we enjoy being together.
We got into the habit of watching t.v. while we ate. Then weeks went by and son had been trailing off to his bedroom to eat. Mommy did not like this. I finally spoke up and said we all eat together in the same room regardless of your preferences. My next step will be to get us to the table where we can talk instead of being glued to the t.v. I may need this to help me.
We always arrange a weekend get-together & eat dinner with our family. The Billion Family Dinners Challenge looks like a great idea where they aim to to achieve one billion shared meals by bringing families together.
We haven’t had dinner together this week – we need to work on it for sure.
Having dinner with the family is a good practice. It gives us the chance to bond as a family and to talk about anything and everything under the sun.
My parents were busy bees when I was growing up, but despite their hectic work schedules, they always made it on time for dinner. It was the best part of the day! A delicious home cooked meal shared by a loving family!