This post was sponsored by Ling Ling, all opinions expressed in my post are my own.
Dinner as a family is so important. It isn’t easy between sports and after-school activities, but we aim for 4-5 nights a week.
Yes, it’s easier to drive through a fast food restaurant somewhere and let them eat in the car just to “get it over with.
Yes, it’s easier to have dinner with the TV on (no complaining or getting up from the table when they are focused on the TV.)
Yes, it’s easier to feed everyone ‘on their own terms’… what they want, when they want it.
However… we’re a family. We do the hard work because it pays off.
In a family, we do what will benefit the family, not what is easy. (Remember, even if you get take-out, you can eat it with your family, where you are sitting at a table, focusing on each other. )
As parents to four kids, my wife and I we don’t always have the time to make things from scratch, but that doesn’t stop us from trying to enjoy dinner together.
I have also found that we look forward to dinner when Becky or I make something that we all like, try a new dish, or find a reason to celebrate.
Example:
With the Chinese New Year being on February 5th, it’s the perfect reason to have a meal that everyone loves. I picked up Ling Ling Potstickers at the store yesterday and we had them tonight. They are so easy to prepare (we like to serve them when we have friends over for fun celebrations, like Chinese New Year).
We love celebrating the Chinese New Year because it is a holiday that marks the end of the coldest days. It is a way to celebrate spring and what it brings along: planting and harvests, new beginnings and fresh starts. It’s also a great way to celebrate one of my favorite foods–> Potstickers 🙂
Ling Ling always serves authentic Asian recipes that are full of flavor, so you can’t go wrong with whichever dish you pick to make.
The directions are right on the back of the bag & simple to follow. (The kids helped, too.)
Becky likes that it is made with clean ingredients that are high quality, like the proteins & freshly sourced vegetables.
The kids love that Ling Ling Potstickers comes with Ling Ling delicious signature dipping sauce.
Dinner is important because it gives you a chance to connect with your family. Your phones are off, you are not taking calls or sending texts. You are not in separate rooms or focusing on anything except each other and your meal together.
Do you ever find that keeping up a conversation at the dinner table is hard with young kids? “How was your day?” gets a one-word answer. We need to dig deeper.
For this reason, we had to start doing a question and answer game at our table. We have been doing this for several years now and we look forward to the answers as much as the kids look forward to them.
It really works and our kids talk a lot more when they have something to say that is interesting to them!
Here are a few tips for you to get the conversation flowing at your table:
10 Questions to ask your kids at dinner
1). What was your favorite part of the day?
2). What is the funniest thing that happened today?
3). What will the world be like in 20/50/100/200 years?
4). If you could go anywhere in the world (or be more specific here), where would you go?
5). What’s your favorite movie? Which character did you like the best? What was your favorite part?
6). What do you want to do this weekend?
7). If you had a food truck, what would you serve and what would you call it?
8). What is your favorite book (and why)?
9). If you could be any animal/person/historic figure, which one would you be (this is a conversation starter, for sure. They love this one!)
10). What do you want for your birthday next year? (It could be many months away, and they will still know!) . What kind of party would you have if you could have any party?
Just Be Together & Talk
This is the most important part is really just about being together, talking and making connections. Whatever your questions or conversations may be… have fun so your family will look forward to gathering around the table again… tomorrow night.
Ps- check out more from our sponsor, Ling Ling, on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter
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