Amish Dining Tables: The Importance of Family Dinners Building Relationships
The Amish community members are not only experts in family dining room tables but in family dining. Even tourists interested in the Amish way of life clamor to be invited to an Amish home for dinner to not only enjoy the homemade fare but to observe a family ritual. The Amish have long known what the rest of the world is being reminded of - the family is the strength of a community and a family must spend time together to build that community.
As our schedules include less time together that means fewer meals together. This trend has led to less valuable communication time for families sitting around the family kitchen or dining room table. Without these regular family dinners children are becoming more peer oriented and less adult oriented; looking to friends to guide them instead of parents and family standards. A new Columbia University survey found what the Amish have practiced for generations. Children and teens who eat meals with their families at least five times per week are much more likely to do better in school and lowers the risk of substance abuse problems. The statistics were remarkable yet common sense. Teens were 42 percent less likely to drink alcohol, 59 percent less likely to smoke cigarettes, and 66 percent less likely to try marijuana. During one of the most stressful points in life teens need support and accountability and regular family meals can supply that. In another study by Harvard University, researchers there found that the act of family dining was the most important family event that encouraged a child’s developing language skills. Sadly, these surveys found that only half the homes in the United States have regular family dinners.
A proclamation to set aside Family Day was made in 2008 by President Bush because “strong families are essential to the well-being of our Nation.” The President realizes that it is at meal time that families can discuss daily events, what’s happening at school or what’s happened with extra-curricular activities or homework. In today’s chaotic schedule, where more often than not two parents work, it is hard to find the time for cooking and cleaning up evening meals. Even if you are only able to grab fast food then at least eat it together at a dining table no matter what the hour. Fifteen or twenty minutes over a cold burger beats no time at all that day. Children need to know that they have a home base, a place in their day that they are assured they and their family are alright.
Tags: amish dining, amsih family dinners. amish dining room tables, DINING ROOM TABLES, family dining, family relationships